Is it wrong to speed through a dungeon?
by Fireball2525
Summary: Suddenly, our blue speedster hero winds up in a world of monsters, gods, and- forget that, it's basically Sonic in Danmachi. Watch as he adventures with the hestia familia while trying to get home. Will he do it? Find out next on Sonic-I should probably stop doing that.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello readers, this is Fireball and I am back! If you don't know who I am, I wrote **_**A Fresh Start **_**and a few other stories. This fanfic was purely just made because there wasn't any crossover of the two. So this is going to be a testing phase. Once I post the chapter, I will wait a while to see what you guys think. If this gets good reception, I'll continue the story with your suggestions of course. So make sure you post reviews on this and enjoy the story!**

_My head is killing me_, was the first thing that Sonic could think of when he started to regain consciousness. The pounding headache made it very difficult to get his thoughts organize when the only thing he could think of was how to make it stop. In fact, his entire body was aching uncomfortably and felt completely exhausted. While gripping the side of his head with his gloved hand, he slowly forced his eyes open with more exertion that it should have taken. He quickly noted that there didn't seem to be any visual differences with his body, his blue and tan fur along with his red shoes seemed to be the same as usual. Next was that he was lying down on a couch. It wasn't the couch from his house for sure as it was a different color and way longer. The last thing he noticed was that he was in a room that he didn't recognize at all. It looked worn down and shabby like it had been abandoned for a few years

"Where the heck am I?" He muttered quietly to himself while trying to push himself up. The last thing he remembered doing was running around Station Square before everything suddenly went black.

"Oh, you're finally awake" a young voice said practically right next to him. It was only because of his groggy and aching state that only made him jump a little and not instinctively leap away. Turning his gaze, his eyes meet a human girl that looked like a child. Raven black hair that was tied in long pigtails by what looked like bells and flowers, large blue eyes that stared at him curiously, wearing a one piece white dress that didn't even reach her knees and a single loop of blue ribbon around her arms, and proportions that seemed unnatural for a girl her age. The strangest thing about her was that she had a strange presence around her that felt...almost sacred like. Whatever it was, he had a feeling that she wasn't your average human being.

"Are you okay?" She asked with concern. That snapped him back to reality as he realized that he hadn't said thing for a few seconds.

"Oh, uhh..I'm alright, just spaced out" he responded quickly. In an instant, practically all of the concern on her face changed to shock and surprise.

"Wait, you can talk?!" She yelled in shock. He quickly covered his ears in pain because that yell not only was painful to his sensitive hearing, but it also made the headache even worse.

"Yeah I can talk, it's not that big of a deal" he groaned while leveling an annoyed glare at her. She quickly realized her mistake and mumbled a quick apology.

"Sorry, it's just that I've never seen a creature like you and I assumed you couldn't talk" she explained.

"Well now you have seen one so please don't yell like that again" he responded while slowly removing his hands. He hoped that wasn't a constant thing because his ears couldn't take much more of the acoustic assault.

"But still, are you really okay? You looked like your were in pain" she asked, the concern returning.

"Don't worry, it's just a headache. I'm sure it'll go away soon" he said with a reassuring grin.

"That's good, you were out for quite a while and I was getting worried," she said as she sighed in relief.

_So she found me and took me to her house to recover, glad I was found by a Good Samaritan,_ He thought in relief. Had it been someone like Eggman who found him, then he would have been in a lot of trouble. Then again, he might have preferred that to being found by Amy.

"So, what's your name?" The girl asked.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog" He said while flashing or trying to flash his signature grin, but the headache just made it come out as kind of shaky.

"The hedgehog? Is that some sort of title or alias?" Hestia asked with confusion. Sonic was mostly surprised that she asked that question. While some people do ask that, they number very few to the ones that usually ask about his appearance or his speed.

"No, it's just that I'm a hedgehog. You know what, just call me Sonic. So what's yours?" He explained.

She seemed to ponder on it for a little before just shrugging her shoulders and accepting it, "You may call me Hestia"

"Well then, nice to meet you Hestia. Thanks for taking care of me" Sonic said. She seemed pretty nice, maybe he could stay here a little after he feels better.

"It's not a problem. So, could you at least explain why you were passed out on the street?" She asked.

"Simple, I was just taking a run through the city before I just suddenly blacked out. I don't even know what caused me to black out like that" he explained while trying to remember what had happened.

"While it does sound a little odd, its actually pretty common here. Lots of people usually pass in the middle of the street, though that's mostly because they drank too much alcohol and they normally drink at night. It's one of the things Orario is famous for" she said quite casually. Despite that, there something she said that struck him as odd.

"I'm sorry, but what's Orario?" He asked. Now she was looking at him with surprise and a little confusion.

"Orario, as in the city of Orario, the city we are in right now" she clarified like it was the most obvious thing.

"But we aren't in 'Orario', we're in Station Square" he argued with confusion. He definitely remembered that he was in Station Square before he fell unconscious. Does this girl not know where she is or did she actually drag him to another city, though that wouldn't make sense as he never seen or heard of Orario.

"What's Station Square? We are in Orario, I found you unconscious a couple of meters away from my home" she argued back. Then for the next minute or two, they kept debating back and forth on what city they were in right now. As they kept arguing, it was getting more and more confusing for the both of them. They soon stopped talking about their cities in general and then started talking about the local geography, which still wasn't the same for either.

"This doesn't make sense!" Sonic practically screamed in frustration. What he first believed to be a different city somehow turned into being in an entirely different continent. Even so, he has been to different continents and he has never heard of Orario, despite Hestia continuously claiming that it was famously known as many people travel to visit here.

"Are you sure you're alright, because you must have hit your head or something if you don't know anything about Orario" she huffed in annoyance as their argument barely lead to learning anything.

"I'm telling you, I have never heard of Orario and Station Square is a place! None of the things you have told me are places that even exist, you make it sound like I'm in a different world or something!" He exclaimed. Then, he suddenly paused as he thought about what he said, "Different...world?"

As crazy as it sounds, this wouldn't have been the first time the blue hedgehog has traveled to different worlds. First was in the world of the Arabian Night where he traveled with Shara to stop the Erazor Djinn from destroying it. Then he was summoned by Merlina to the world of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to stop a corrupted Arthur along with the sacred yet annoying sword Caliburn. So it wouldn't be that far fetched to believe this was some sort of different world. But the only difference this time was that no one was acknowledging it, so he had to learn about this world.

"Wait, I have a few questions I need to ask" Sonic said suddenly. Hestia seemed to still be annoyed, but she just sighed that he interpreted as to ask away, "First, are there any strange things or creatures here?"

"Well obviously, how can you not know about monsters?" She replied sarcastically. Though when she saw that he was still confused, she realized that he wasn't joking and that he actually didn't know about them, "Well, monsters are basically just mindless creatures that go around killing people"

"Wait, they kill people?!" He exclaimed in shock. Forget Eggman, those things are a threat to society. What surprised him more was that she wasn't bothered at all while talking about monsters that kill.

"Yes, they used to be a big threat to everyone as no one was strong enough to fight them. But once the gods came down, people were able to drive them back into the dungeon and keep them there" she explained. Now that practically all but confirmed that he was in a different world, Mobius had no gods or dungeons or monsters.

"Oh boy, this is not good" Sonic groaned as he facepalmed.

"Huh, what's wrong? Was that too much for you to take, it makes sense" she asked.

"No, it's just that…the place I come from doesn't have any of those so I never really knew any of those existed" he lied. While it would have been good to tell her that he was from a different world, she most likely wouldn't believe him. Though he would ask someone eventually, best play it off as just from somewhere far and isolated.

"That makes sense, though you're pretty lucky that your city hasn't been attacked by monsters. But then how did you end up here?"

"...I don't know" he sighed. Lie or not, he was stranded in a foreign place with no friends or guidance.

"Then you have nowhere to go and no idea how to get back home?" She asked, to which He replied with a nod. For a moment, she seemed to be thinking about something. Then, her eyes widened and she smiled like she just had a brilliant idea, "Then until you find your way home, how about you join my familia?"

"A what now?" He asked confused.

"A familia, or a faction of a god. Gods and Goddesses each have their own family where people join them and support them as their children. In exchange, the gods bestow the blessing of the Falna to give them the strength to fend of monsters. It would be a way for you to stay here until you find your way home!" She explained excitedly. However, Sonic hardly understood anything she was talking about.

"Hey Hestia, can you repeat that again, and in English this time" he said.

"What, really?" She whined while pouring angrily, "Fine, I'll try simplifying it. Gods make a group that people can join. In exchange, the gods give the power to become stronger and to kill monsters. Is that simple enough?"

"Yep, that was perfect!" He joyfully responded with a thumbs up. That only made her facepalm this time, "So a familia is a group led by a god and people can join them. So I assume you're a member of a familia?"

"No, I am the goddess of the Hestia Familia" she stated. There was a few seconds of silence as they both stared at each other.

"...Are you saying you're a goddess?" He asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah, do you find it hard to believe?" She asked while narrowing her eyes in hostility. Warning signs were going off in his head and he knew he had to diffuse this before she got angry.

"No, no, it's just that I've never seen one before" he said quickly while raising his hands in a placating gesture. Thankfully, she seemed to have calmed down and returned to her calm expression.

"Good, so do you want to join my familia?"

"Well, it doesn't sound that bad. Would happen after I join?"

"You would then become an adventurer and go into the dungeon to slay monsters. That is how they earn money. Of course, some of that money would go into supporting the familia but you can spend the rest on what you need. You can learn more when you join" she explained.

"Okay, But how much freedom will I have with this familia? If I lose that, then there is no way I am going to join" Sonic questioned.

"Well, that mostly depends on the god. Some of them will allow you to make your own choices while others oppress their children. I promise you that I in no way will try to take away your freedom while you are here. I may ask you not to do somethings, but I won't force you into anything. If you ever want to leave,...you can leave my familia without any complaint" she said with a little hesitation.

Now that he understood the gist of it, he had to make a decision. Normally, joining any group or organization would be a no go as he wouldn't be as free as he was. They were bound to rules that he had to follow and he didn't like obeying the rules. However, he was alone in a different world and it was important that he adapted here. Joining her familia would give him many opportunities here that were necessary for him to stay here. It basically came down to surviving here and he already knew his answer.

"Sure thing, I'll join your familia. Who knows, it may be pretty fun" Sonic said with a grin. Hestia's eyes seem to sparkle in joy as she quickly grasped his hand and shook it rapidly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" She said as she was holding back a flood of tears. The only other person he has seen who has done that was Amy and he did not want that comparison stuck in his head.

"Uhh, your welcome?" He said awkwardly. While he knew he made the right choice, he still wondered if this will end up well or not.

**I know the chapter may have not been the best quality, but I'm testing the waters to see if you all want this. If I were to continue this, then I will make future chapters better. So like I said, please leave a review on if you like it and if you do give suggestions on how I should go with it. I'm planning to follow the canon with altercations to have it make sense with Sonic there. Suggestions like how I should make his stats like will greatly be appreciated. Whether or not I continue, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to read this and hope you all have a wonderful day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, I would like to say that I will continue this story. Honestly, it would be a waste not to continue. So for that, thank you for reading this story. I wasn't sure if people would like it and it seems that some actually do. So let's get into the story**

"So, what happens now? Am I in this familia just like that or is there some sort of ritual that you must perform?" Sonic asked half jokingly. Maybe he would have to pass a challenge or even make a blood pact.

"There is" Hestia responded with a smile. Almost instantly, his expression turned blank and he stared at her in disbelief. He was joking about the ritual, he seriously hoped he didn't actually have to make a blood pact, "I just need to inscribe the Falna onto your back and then you're officially in"

"...when you say inscribe, please tell me you aren't going to carve it into my back with a knife?" He asked nervously. That may have not been a blood pact, but it was definitely worse than one.

"Don't worry, the process isn't going to hurt you. Just go lie down on the bed and I'll take care of the rest" she reassured him while pointing to the large bed that was behind him. While it seemed normal, he knew better than to take anything someone said at face value. For all he knew this could be some sort of contract that would sell his soul away.

...He may have been exaggerating a little, but the risk was still there. Cautiously, he slid his legs off the couch and stood up, or at least tried to stand up as he nearly stumbled to the floor had it not been for Hestia catching him. Now she had to help make his way over to the bed which was not helping his reputation. Thankfully, only the two of them would know about that and no one else will. He was able to climb onto the bed on his own and flop down onto it. After a moment passed, he felt some weight on his back that felt like someone was sitting on him.

"Hestia...why are you sitting on my back?" He questioned suspiciously.

"I already told you, I need to inscribe the Falna onto your back so naturally I'm going to sit on your back. Now hush and let me do my work" she retorted. Sonic simply rolled his eyes and listened to the small goddess's order. He then felt a drop of a liquid hit his back, followed by her placing her finger down and tracing it around in a circle. Soon, there was a strange warmth on his back that washed over his entire body. It was like snuggling in a blanket on a cold day, but there was also an odd sense of tranquility along with it. During the process, something brushed pass the quills on his back which was immediately followed with a small yelp of pain along with a, "Stupid pointy things". He let out a small chuckle that she thankfully didn't hear. Now, she seemed to be writing something on him with how her finger was moving and it was unfortunately very slow and delicate, two words that were not in his dictionary.

_How long is this going to take?_, he thought in his head as it soon turned into two minutes of this and he was quickly getting impatient. It was taking a lot of effort to not make any movement as he suspected she might mess up something and it was going to screw him over in many unnatural ways. Though with how long she was taking, he quickly decided that it was worth the risk for some reason. Right as he was about to shift his body around, Hestia let out a sigh and removed her hand from his back. This made him pause to see if she was done or she was simply taking a break before continuing. Taking a piece of blank paper from a stack, she placed it onto his back, traced over it one more time, and peeled it off.

"There we go, now that wasn't so bad" She said before hopping off him. He took that chance to roll over into his back and sit back up. Stretching to pop the joints that became stiff because of her sitting on him, he reached over and felt along his back. There was nothing there that he could physically feel, but there was an area that was just slightly warmer than the rest of his body.

"Finally, I was wondering how long that would take. You sure took your sweet time with that one" he said while giving her a playful glare.

"I wouldn't get too excited. Even though you're officially apart of the Hestia Familia, you still need to get your Status updated every once in awhile. They may not be long, but I think you'll get annoyed quickly judging by that" She retorted with a smirk while holding out the piece of paper, which now somehow had writing on it, "This paper is simply to translate the hieroglyphics into your language. On it you will find your level, stats, magic, and skills"

_Stats? Skills? This sounds more like those video games that Tails sometimes play_, Sonic thought as he glanced down at the paper

**Sonic the Hedgehog **

**Level 1**

**Strength: I0**

**Endurance: I0**

**Dexterity: I0**

**Agility: I0**

**Magic: I0**

**Magic: {empty}**

**Skills:**

**Hedgehog- Allows usage of abilities by the hedgehog species, including the use of chaos energy**

While he may not be as familiar with video games like his best friend was, he certainly seen enough to have a basic understanding. The stats basically represent how good he was at them in number form, though they were suspiciously at zero despite clearly not being weak. The magic made sense as he never really used any special ability like Silver and Blaze. The agility however was downright bullshit. He was the fastest thing alive for crying out loud! How the hell was it at zero when it was obviously supposed to be maxed out.

Then there was the level, which also made no sense. Being level one was saying he was a weak noob and the amount of fighting he has done should prove he was anything but that. That would be a question for later, the other point of interest was his skill. Though, it wasn't that much of a shocker as it just meant he could do stuff like his Spin Dash and Homing Attack. The use of chaos energy was also interesting as it meant that he might be able to use Chaos Control if he somehow found a Chaos Emerald, but he probably won't. Overall, he felt as though this system was horribly inaccurate.

"Hey Hestia, why are all of my stats at zero? I am definitely not as weak as this thing says I am" he complained while turning the paper around and jabbing his finger at it.

"What do you mean, that's how it is. Everyone starts at zero, no matter how strong they are. Though that doesn't matter as all of them aren't strong to begin with. Everything about your status is ordinary except for the skill, which makes sense as it's just for your species" she explained. While most of his annoyance faded away, he still felt that his stats and level should be much higher. But his low stats would mean people would underestimate him for being a supposedly weak person, which he then could pull the rug from under them by knocking them out before they can blink. On second thought, this may not be as bad as he thought it would be.

"Okay, so now that I'm officially in, what do we do now?"

"Well, we have to wait until Bell comes home to introduce you two. He'll take you to the guild to register. I'm sure he'll be excited to see that we finally have another member" she said with a smirk.

"Who's Bell? Is he another member of your familia?" Sonic asked.

"Yep, my first and previously only member. I found him and took him in when no other familia wanted him. It's been about two weeks since and we are still working hard to keep ourselves afloat. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I was able to meet him" Normally, Sonic would be happy to hear that the boy able to join a familia when everyone basically rejected him. But there was one thing that was really killing the mood for him.

_Why is she making that face? I recognize that expression from anywhere and I do not need another Amy obsessing over someone_, he thought with a shiver. The love struck expression on her face was bringing up bad memories of his 'admirer' who would chase after him and try to force him to love her. Hopefully, she wouldn't be just as obsessive with the boy.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!" Hestia exclaimed, snapping out of her trance, "You're going to need to buy some armor. While your equipment looks good, you should get something to protect yourself"

Sonic was right about to argue that he wasn't going to get armor because he hated most forms of clothing, but he noticed something else about her statement, "What do you mean by equipment? I don't have any"

"Yeah you do, I found them right next to you while your were unconscious" she argued while pointing to the other couch. Turning his head, he noticed that there was actually some equipment next to the couch he was just lying down on, a gauntlet and a sword. The gauntlet was just basic as it was made of metal and had a yellow ring on the wrist with a ruby embedded into it. The sword however was unique, with a base that was a golden ring with a metal center. Overlaying it were golden hilts with a black ornament shaped like a blade with a spiraling design. Though it's been quite a while since he used them, he recognized them in an instant.

"No way! Caliburn?!" He yelled in surprise as he hopped off the bed and rushed over to the sword. Caliburn was the sacred sword that helped him defeat the corrupted King Arthur during his adventure through Camelot. After he left, he thought he would never see him again. But lo and behold, he was right here in his hand in some other strange world that he was pulled into. The black ornament was covering his face which meant that he was in his dormant form, just like when he pulled him out of the ground.

"Caliburn? Is that the name of the sword?" Hestia asked curiously.

"Well, Yeah. Don't know how he ended up here with me though" he explained. Despite that, this was actually good news for him. Maybe he would have an idea on how they got here and how to get back. But if not, at least he would have a familiar face to talk to, an annoying but familiar face. First thing to do, wake him up. He tried rapping his knuckles on the flat side of the blade to see if that would get him up.

"Umm, what are you doing?"

"Trying to wake him up" was all he said while increasing the intensity of his tapping. However, the sword still remained as quiet as it was. So, he decided to take a different approach, "Hey, Wake up! Rise and shine buddy! If you don't wake up now I'll keep getting louder" Now, his tapping soon turned to full on knocking. If this didn't work, he might have to resort to full on yelling. Though that may not be the smartest idea as he could feel Hestia's confused and nearly worried look trained on him. Yet in all honesty, most people would think he's crazy for trying to talk to a sword.

"Sonic, I don't know what you're trying to do, but I don't think it's going to wor- Would you please shut up?!" She was trying to say before she was cut off by an irritated voice. She nearly jumped out of her skin and soon darted her eyes everywhere to try and find the source of the voice.

"Finally you're awake, never took you for being a heavy sleeper" Sonic jested while chuckling. Turning towards him, it looked as though he had talked directly to the sword. While it normally would have looked silly, she quickly noticed that the once normal sword now had a face on it. The black ornament that was once attached to the hilt had shifted down to reveal a face at the center of the base. Emerald eyes like the person holding it and an actual mouth which together were now making an annoyed expression.

"It is plainly obvious that it takes effort to aworse me from my slumber, I have been dormant in the ground for years! But now this is the second time I have been rudely awakened by an imbecile!" Caliburn retorted angrily.

"Seriously?! First you call me a knave and now you call me an idiot! Why do you have to be such a stick in the mud?" Sonic argued back.

"Isn't that what I was, a sword in the stone? Try thinking of effective insults the next time you attempt this" the sword responded with a smirk, which caused the hedgehog to grumble under his breath. Meanwhile, Hestia was spectating them at a distance in complete shock. In a world of gods, many special weapons which before could only have existed in the imagination of others. Staffs that could channel magic and amplify them, blades that were enchanted so that they would never break, even swords that could shoot out actual magic. But she has never seen nor heard of a blade that had a mind of its own, it could think and talk like a living being. Only Hephaestus could possibly create something like that, and even so it would have been an extremely impressive feat.

"The sword...can talk?!" She exclaimed quite loudly, causing the once arguing pair to stop on turn towards her.

"Oh, Caliburn? He can talk alright, makes him the most annoying weapon I have ever seen" Sonic simply answered.

"Sonic, who is this maiden? She looks like nothing more than a child, but she has a peculiar aura to her. It's almost identical to being in the presence of the Lady of the Lake" Caliburn questioned while observing her.

"Oh yeah, you were still asleep during then. Well, this is Goddess Hestia of the Hestia Familia, which we are now apart of. Hestia, this is the sacred sword Caliburn, he can be annoying most of the time but I'm sure you guys will get along" Sonic said as he placed Caliburn right in front of her. The sword hopped out of his grip and floated a few centimeters off the ground while facing towards her.

"Umm, nice to meet you?" She greeted awkwardly.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well. Though I must implore, are you truly a goddess? I was led to believe they were beings whose existence could not be proven but were believed to exist in the heaven

"No, we really do exist. We decided to come down to the lower world so we can live among the children of this world and share their experiences" she explained while still having a look of disbelief. Makes sense when she was having a conversation with a sword, a normally inanimate object.

"Fascinating, the very fact that gods truly exist and are now walking among mortals is truly astounding. I must wonder if some of these beings are residing in Camelot as we speak"

"Camelot?" Hestia was now getting more confused with these new places that she has never heard of. She was beginning to question whether they actually exist or not. Right before the sword could respond, Sonic beat him to the punch by grabbing ahold of his hilt and yanking him back.

"Oh that's not important, we should probably wait for that Bell kid to show up so we can meet him," he said in a very loud voice the muted out Caliburn before quietly whispering to him, "_Don't say anything about that, we'll talk about it later_" Both the sword and the goddess looked suspiciously at him and were probably about to comment about his strange behavior, but in a perfectly timed piece of irony, footsteps were heard coming from beyond the stairwell.

"Hello? Are you here yet Goddess?" The person asked as he entered the room. He barely had a chance to take a good look inside before he was tackled by a black haired middle which was Hestia. Surprisingly, he didn't fall over and managed to remain standing despite the impact.

"Welcome home Bell! How was your trip to the dungeon?" She eagerly asked. Now that she wasn't flying into him, Sonic had a chance to see what the boy looked like. He was fairly tall with a slim build and thin body who was wearing a brown coat with a metal breastplate and black pants along with gloves and boots. He actually looked fairly young with his smooth and pale skin. The most notable aspect about him was his impossibly white hair and crimson eyes which both shone brightly. He basically looked like the human version of a rabbit, though a different kind from what Cream was.

"Not the best, I nearly got myself killed back there" he replied with a shaky grin like it was a joke. Though instead, Hestia quickly began inspecting every inch of him for any injuries while fussing about him being more careful. It was actually pretty comical if you ignore the first part. This only lasted a couple of seconds before he grabbed her and placed her down,

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Remember, I'm the only member of the Hestia Familia, so I can't get myself killed and abandon my Goddess" he reassured her with a more confident smile. She seemed to be at ease and was about to say something before her eyes widened a bit in realization. A grin grew on her face as she let out a few chuckles.

"I'll take your word for it Bell, but I have some splendid news. We have finally got ourselves a new member!" She declared while striking a pose. Sonic covered his mouth to hold in his fit of chuckles while Caliburn simply sighed in disappointment.

In an instant, Bell's face lit up like a light and now the excited expression he was making made him look like a child who just received a Christmas present, "Really?! That's great, when can I meet them?!"

"Right now silly, go introduce yourself" she said while pointing behind her. His gaze followed along until he spotted the blue hedgehog sitting on the couch with a sword leaning on the wall next to it. A brief look of confusion passed over his face and that was all it took for Sonic to burst out into laughter.

"H-hey! What are you laughing for?! Hestia said while puffing out her cheeks angrily while Bell just looked even more confused. It took a few seconds for him to calm down and catch his breath, but he still let out a few chuckles before answering.

"Sorry, it's just that whatever you two were doing was funny and that look made it better" Sonic said before standing up and walking over to him while holding out his hand, "So, you can call me Sonic. I take it that your name is Bell?"

"Oh, y-yeah! Hello Sonic, my name is Bell Cranel and its nice to meet you" Bell stuttered while shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet ya as well. I guess my appearance threw you off, right?"

"Well, Yeah" he replied while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

"Eh, you'll get used to it. You should also say hi to Caliburn, he also looks a little bizarre so try not to freak out" Sonic said while glancing towards the sword.

"I will have you know that despite my peculiar circumstance, you shall not describe me as bizarre when you act like a fool most of the time!" Caliburn annoyingly retorted while hopping. Sonic just gave him an annoyed look, but Bell looked completely star struck with wide eyes that were practically sparkling.

"The sword can talk?! That's so cool!" He exclaimed while running up to get a closer look. Caliburn was caught off guard by the close proximity and the unadulterated enthusiasm, "Is it some sort of rare legendary weapon?! Where did you find it?!"

"Woah, chill out Bell" Sonic said while walking between them and gently pushing the boy back, "I appreciate the excitement, but you need to calm down a little. I don't think he likes having a random person get that close to him suddenly"

"Oh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable like that!" Bell apologized while bowing. Caliburn was still a little shocked by what just happened, but he quickly regained his composure before addressing him.

"I shall forgive you this time, but try to control yourself so that you don't attempt this again" he said.

After all that has passed and they formally introduced themselves, Hestia had Bell go onto the bed to update his Status. He had to take off his shirt to do so and didn't seem that uncomfortable with them watching him. While he was updating him, he told more about what had happened in the dungeon. Apparently, he was on the fifth floor when a Minotaur suddenly showed up out of nowhere. He said that it was strange as they usually only appeared at lower levels. The monster then chased him down and eventually cornered him into a dead end. But before it could kill him, he was saved by a girl named Aiz Wallenstein. Right after she saved him, he for some reason ran away in complete embarrassment or something of the like without even thanking her.

"Hold on, you ran away?" Sonic asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, It wasn't the smartest thing to do. It's just that so much happened so quickly that I just couldn't take" Bell sighed as he brought his head down into the sheets.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, it's a natural instinct to flee under pressure. If anything, it's better than trying to thank her as you would only make yourself look more like a fool" Caliburn assured him while also chuckling, "Though honestly, I can't believe you actually fell in love with her. I've heard of maidens falling for heroes that rescue them, but you managed to reverse the roles"

"It doesn't matter who falls for who, it's not like you can marry her anyway" Hestia stated, "You two are from different familias and those relationships never work. Besides, I'm sure she already has admirers that are drooling over now as we speak" Before they could respond to that, she let out a small gasp that caught their attention.

"Goddess, is something wrong?"

"It's nothing" she replied, trying and failing to play it off, "Though here is my advice on this, try focusing your sights on another girl. The right girl may be closer than you think" After taking off the paper and moved off him, she handed him his status for him to look over.

_Is she even trying to be subtle?_, Sonic and Caliburn thought as they watched them. It clearly became obvious that Hestia had feelings for Bell, from the lovestruck expression from earlier to her jealous tone when talking to the very line that she just said. She was just one step below Amy who would declare her love for him to basically everyone she knows. The most shocking thing was that Bell was completely oblivious to it, not understanding who she was referencing. Though it seems she's not crazy obsessive over him, he may need watch out in the future.

"Hey Goddess, What does this day under my skills?" Bell asked while pointing to smudged writing.

"Oh, my hand must have slipped or something. Like always, it's still blank" she responded nonchalantly.

"Should have known. Hey Sonic, do you have any skills?"

"Eh, just one. Though it's just because of my species" he replied. Though it may not sound special, the amount of times he has used it showed it was a key part of his fighting style. After that, the three of them prepared for the night and got ready to go to sleep. Hestia had the entire bed to herself while Bell opted to just sleep on the couch. Sonic just chose to sleep on the floor with his back against the wall. It took a few minutes, but he eventually drifted away into a peaceful slumber.

"_Hello? Can you hear me?_" A voice echoed in his head. Sonic's eyes slowly opened to see who had just talked to him and why it was interrupting his sleep. Instead of the worn down room, he somehow found himself in an empty void which all he could see was white. After noting that he was sitting down in a chair for someone reason, his eyes wandered around trying to understand everything.

"_Where am I now?_" He tried saying, but his voice seemed to be coming from around him than from his mouth. It didn't take long to spot the only other things in there with him. A beautifully sculpted table that seemed to be made of a glossy black material that he could even see his own reflection and another chair identical to his with a figure sitting down on it. It was a tall person, even taller than Bell with a similarly slim body. They were wearing an unnaturally perfect tuxedo with not a wrinkle or crease in sight. The black that glaringly stood out against the white background and white which matched it. The most unusual aspect about his appearance was his face, primarily due to the fact that it didn't have one. It's head seemed to be made out of marble with only a nose that stood out against its smooth face.

"_Ah, I see you are finally awake. I was wondering when we could have a talk" _the figure echoed with a small chuckle.

"_Who...are you?"_

"_Who am I? That is a good question, I possess no true identity as I never had the need for one. Though there has been one name that many have referred to me as. So to satisfy your question, you may call me The Joker" _he said after some thought.

"_Okay then Joker, mind explaining what's going on?" _Sonic asked impatiently.

"_My, my. Aren't you quite impatient? If that's the case, I will get right to the point. I am the one who brought you to that world"_ Joker explained.

"_What?! You were the one?! Why on earth would you do that?!"_

"_Are you familiar with a deck of cards?_" Joker asked, completely ignoring him while making an actual deck of cards appear out of nowhere. He began to shuffle them like a professional dealer, moving them around at a speed that even the hedgehog was having trouble following. After he finished, he held out the deck, "_Pick anyone of the cards and tell me what you have"_

Sonic hesitantly reached over and grabbed one of the cards and pulled it out. Looking down at it, he saw that it was the six of spades.

"_It's a six of spades" _he said while looking up.

"_Ah, But is it really?_" Joker asked cryptically. Confused, he looked back down to confirm that it was what he said but he was shocked by what he saw. Instead of the six of spades he saw before, it had somehow changed to be the joker.

"_What the hell?!"_

"_Jokers are known to be the wild card of the entire deck. Unpredictable, random, being good to some while bad to others. Basically, Jokers doesn't follow any form of rhyme and reason. That is why I have gained that title, I am known to do things that lack what you call common sense or logic_" Joker explained while continuing to shuffle the deck, at one point reclaiming the card that was removed to mix it back in.

"_But, that still doesn't answer my question. Why did you bring me to this world? Do I have some sort of purpose here?" _Sonic asked again, getting more frustrated and annoyed by how he was basically dodging the question and giving him riddles instead of solid answers.

"_In due time, I will explain all there is to it. So for now, just go with the game and please make it interesting. Until next time, Sonic the Hedgehog" _Joker said while giving a small wave. Before he could even say something, everything suddenly went black.

**Wow, this chapter went longer than I anticipated it to be. Though it just makes it better in general, so there really isn't an issue. So, with the introduction of Caliburn, Bell, and the mysterious Joker, the story is now finally getting underway. The hardest part about the chapter was making Sonic's status as there were so many options that could lead to different events. Even though this was the one I chose, feel free to leave a review of you think it should be different and what changes should be made. I really appreciate the support I'm getting so let's make this story a good one for all of you to enjoy. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

After a few seconds of effort, Sonic groggily opened his eyes. Glancing left and right, he was relieved to see he was back in Hestia's home instead of that white void. It was a pretty strange dream, though he has had some in the past so it wasn't too bizarre. But the weirdest thing was that it felt so real, he could remember every detail from the chairs to the table to that strange person called Joker.

_Who am I kidding? It was just a dream, I shouldn't think about it too much_, he thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes and stood up. Though, it looks like he still was in a different world. He would find out how to get back there in the future, now he had other things to do. Right next to him was Caliburn who was leaning against the wall with the ornament cover slid over his face. All it took was a few taps to wake him up.

"Hmm? Oh, good morning Sir Sonic. I trust that you had a peaceful slumber?" Caliburn questioned, sounding perfectly awake and not like he just woke up.

"Yeah, I slept okay. How about you, can you even dream?" Sonic asked with a playful smirk.

"I do not dream, I simply enter a semi dormant state that is simply to rest mental fatigue. It is just darkness rather than dreams or nightmares"

"Just great, and I thought I could tease you for dreaming about something embarrassing" Sonic said with a disappointed expression.

"As if I would tell you in the first place" Caliburn huffed, "But that reminds me, do you have any knowledge of where we are? Surely I would have heard something about gods residing among us" While Sonic expected to asked that sooner or later, he wasn't expecting it this soon.

"Yeah, that. I think it's safe to say that we aren't in our worlds" he explained while scratching his head awkwardly.

"Surely you jest? While you may have been summoned to my world before, we purposely did so and were expecting you. Here, all they have told us is that there are gods, monsters, and a Dungeon. In any case, we may just somewhere a bit far from Camelot"

"Oh really? Then have you ever heard of a place called Orario, which is supposedly known around the world?" Sonic asked with a questioning look.

"Well...I have not…so you may be right about being in a different world, who brought us here and why?" Caliburn asked after fumbling for an answer.

Instantly, Sonic remembered the dream he had and was said during it. Joker claimed to have brought him here, but was it real? It could have just been a dream that was influenced by what he had learned yesterday. But it also could have been real and that thing was the key to getting back home. The only way to confirm it was to see if he could talk to him again, but until then he should not tell Caliburn yet.

"...I'm not sure" he replied after a few seconds. Before they could continue with their conversation, they heard some shifting from the couch. They looked over and saw that Bell waking up. He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position and glanced around. When he saw them looking at him, his eyes widened a bit in surprise.

"Oh, you guys are already awake?" He asked groggily while rubbing his eyes.

"Yep, we got just got up a minute ago so it wasn't that long" Sonic eagerly said with a wave.

"Speak for yourself, you're the one that woke me up" Caliburn muttered under his breath. Sonic heard him, but simply chose to ignore in favor of the white hair boy.

"I'm surprised you two woke up this early, I thought I would just wait until you did. But that means we can just go now. Grab your things, we're going to the dungeon right after you register at the guild" Bell explained while beginning to dress up. It didn't take him too long as he just had to put on his jacket and armor to be finished. Sonic was even quicker as all he had to do was slip on his gauntlet. Having the feeling of the armor on his hand filled him with a rush of nostalgia of when he was traveling around with the sword to stop King Arthur.

"Okay then, let's go!" Sonic eagerly yet quietly said before jogging up the stairs with Caliburn hopping after him. Bell was caught off guard for a moment when he saw the sword moving on its own, but learnt to accept after seeing it talk. By the time he got up the stairs and past the door, the hedgehog and sword were looking around the old abandoned church.

"This is quite interesting, I never expected your living conditions to be this dreary. Is housing expensive, or are you and the goddess penniless?" Caliburn asked bluntly.

"The second one, it's not easy making a lot of valis by myself" Bell explained with a downcasted expression. The two of them assumed that valis was the form of currency here.

"Don't worry buddy, we'll make lots of money and get you guys into a better home. Just got to stay positive" Sonic encouraged while giving him a playful punch to the side. That seemed to have worked as his expression quickly became more happy and he had a determined smile.

"You're right, we just have to stay positive. Let's go, the sooner we get you registered the sooner we get into the dungeon!" He cheered before jogging outside. Sonic gave a happy chuckle while Caliburn simply sighed while smirking before they chased after him. As they made their way through the city, the two of them made sure to look around a bit. While there were hardly any, there were quite a few people wearing different types of clothes like robes and armor. Some had swords that were bigger than them and staffs with jewels embedded into them. The most eye catching thing were that they had many different features like pointy ears to some that had ears like his. Sonic was amazed by how exotic this world seemed and he was excited to see more of it. But probably the thing that took his breath was seeing the tower called Babel, which he easily spotted in the distance. The structure rose impossibly high into the sky and seemed to be going up endlessly while somehow staying stable. It was enough to make him not be able to ask anything else about it, though he should later.

After taking a few turns, they were standing in front of a large building with banners hanging around it. Bell explained that this was the Guild, the most important building in the entire city. Everything about how the city functioned usually was connected to this, from distributing resources such as power to acting as a government that keeps adventurers in check.

"Interesting, a system where a unified group governs the city instead of a single ruler and it functions perfectly normal" Caliburn mumbled in fascination as they walked inside.

"Not every place is ruled by a king, though I'm impressed by how modern they are despite also being medieval like you" Sonic replied with a chuckle. Inside of the building was a basic reception area with windows that allowed adventurers and employees could talk one on one.

"Once you get registered, you should be assigned to an advisor since you're new. An advisor is a person who teaches you about the monster in the dungeon and gives advice on what to do to basically survive" Bell explained, "You'll probably get my advisor, Ms. Eina. She'll register you and give you some information about the dungeon". He was walking to one of the windows with one of the guild employees sitting there doing work. She looked fairly young with short brown hair and bright green eyes. Her ears were also pointy, which Sonic assumed that she was an elf.

"Hey Miss Eina!" The girl looked surprised for a moment and a small smile appeared when she saw who it was.

"Ah, good morning Bell. I'm a bit surprised to see you here this early. Aren't you normally in the dungeon by now?" Eina asked curiously.

"Yeah, but there's something important I need to do here, and it's really good. We finally got a new member and he needs to register as an adventurer" Bell said with a huge smile.

"Really? That's great news! I'm glad that someone decided to join your Familia" Eina said before noticing the hedgehog standing right behind him, "Oh, are you the new member?"

"Yep, you can call me Sonic. It's nice to meet you" he said while holding out his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. My name is Eina Tulle, I'm the guild advisor for Bell. So you're here to register to the guild?"

"Yeah, Bell said that I need to do it to officially become an adventurer. Mind explaining what I'm supposed to do?" Sonic asked.

"Not at all, it is my job. First, please fill out this form with the necessary information" Eina said while pulling out a sheet of paper with a pen and handing it to him, "Once you are finished, I will give you the standard orientation for all new adventurers. I also will be assigned your guild advisor like Bell to teach you more about the dungeon later on if you have questions" With a nod, Sonic took the pen and looked over the form. It was pretty normal, just asking for basic information such as his name, age, familia, and other things as well. He easily finished it in under a minute and returned it back to Eina who placed it in a folder.

"Great, now please come with me. We will hold the orientation in a separate briefing room" she explained while gesturing them to follow her. She led them to a room that had a table with two chairs on opposite ends. Eina sat in one of the chairs while Sonic plopped down in the other with Bell and Caliburn standing beside them. Then, she began the explanation with the history of the dungeon. It apparently has been around for a long time with no one knowing when or how it was made. It would keep spawning a bear endless amount of monsters. People back then were struggling to fight against them and many deaths occurred during that time. Then, the gods decided to descend down to the lower world to find new forms of entertainment among the mortals. They sealed up their powers so that they were around the same level as a normal human. With what little power that they were allowed to use, they gave us the blessing in the form of the Falna, allowing people to grow stronger and to drive the monster back into the dungeon. Now, adventurers use the dungeon as a form of profit by gathering the cores of monsters known as magic stones and trading them at the guild for valis to which they can be used to power the city.

"Wow, never knew you guys had a pretty cool history" Sonic said in surprise.

"While I would consider it cool, the history of Orario is an interesting tale" Eina replied, "Now that we're finished, you are clear to go into the dungeon. I trust that Bell will show you more practical advice. Just remember one thing, adventurers should never be too adventurous" Sonic had to hold in his laugh before she could hear him. If only she knew who he was, then she would know that he's a frequent daredevil. Looks as though they would have to learn that the hard way with him.

After saying goodbye, the three of them made their stay out of the Guild and headed toward their huge tower, which apparently was also the entrance to the dungeon. It looked as though the registration took some time as there were a few more adventurers on the streets than earlier, not too much but enough to be noted.

"So, what do you think the monsters in the dungeon are gonna be like?" Sonic asked.

"Despite his deadly the advisor portrayed them, I think they're only dangerous to normal people and overconfident rookies. They shouldn't pose too much of a threat once we establish the strength of the first monsters we encounter" Caliburn replied with a huff.

"Don't worry, the monsters on the first floor are just goblins and kobolds, so there isn't much to worry abo-" Bell was beginning to say before his eyes widened and whipped his head around. The sudden action caught the other two by surprise as they watched their friend looking around suspiciously. It was like he was searching for something that caught his attention.

"Hey Bell, is everything alright?" Sonic asked with a little worry. The boy kept looking around for a bit before turning back to them.

"...I'm not sure, it felt like someone was watching me" he mumbled quietly. The eyes he felt on him were practically predatory, like an animal observing its prey. Though it didn't have ill intent, it was more like curiosity and amusement which only made him more confused.

"Umm, excuse me?" A voice asked from behind him. He jumped a little in surprise and swiftly turned around to see who talk. It was a young girl with light gray hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a white headdress and a green dress with a white apron over it. She also seemed surprised by him turning towards her quickly, "Sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to"

"I'm sorry, you just caught me by surprise. Do you need something?" Bell asked. He didn't feel the eyes on him anymore and decided to worry about it later to handle this.

"Oh, it's just that you dropped this" she explained while holding out her hand. Right in the middle was a small purple shard that looked just a little bigger than a pebble. It was a magic stone, the cores that all monsters drop when you kill them. He slowly took the stone and looked at it quizzically.

"Huh, I thought I cashed in all of my stones yesterday? Might have dropped it somehow?" While it was unlikely, it made way more sense than her just owning one. The only ones that have magic stones are adventurers, normal citizens shouldn't have them. As he was placing the stone in his pouch, the girl was giving him a curious look.

"You are an adventurer, right? Are you really going to the dungeon this early?" She asked.

"Yeah, we want to get an early start so I can show my new familia member the dungeon" Bell said while gesturing towards Sonic, who gave a small wave. Before any of them could say something, someone's stomach grumbled and all eyes fell onto Bell, who had turned a bright shade of red.

"I think your stomach is getting a little annoyed without food" Sonic chuckled while smirking. He was quite hungry himself, but he wasn't going to say anything yet until later. The girl was also chuckling before she walked into the building behind her and came back a few seconds later. In her hands was a small box wrapped up neatly in a cloth which she then handed to Bell. The hedgehog's sensitive nose easily picked up the smell of food from it.

"It's not much, but I think you should have it" she said with a smile.

"Wait, I can't take this!" Bell floundered a little before turning more meek, "I mean, isn't this your breakfast?"

"Don't worry, I work here at the tavern. I can always get food if I'm hungry" she explained while gesturing to the building she had entered. Looking inside, he could see there were tables and chairs with some people inside with similar uniforms as hers. Bell still looked hesitant about accepting the gift so she added something else, "How about you eat here tonight in exchange? It would make so happy"

"Uh...sure" Bell said with an awkward smile. While that was happening, Sonic and Caliburn were trying hard not to burst out laughing.

"Wow, she's playing him right into her hands and he doesn't even realize it. He's way too trusting" Sonic said while shaking his head.

"I agree, though I can't help but be impressed with her persuasive tongue. Her skills would have been sought after by any merchants" Caliburn commented.

After Bell finished talking with the girl, the three of them continued there way to the dungeon with some teases thrown occasionally to pass the time. They soon reached the base of Babel and the two of them could only hawk at its massive size. The base alone was already huge as it looked like it would take a few minutes just to walk the circumference of it. What was even more baffling was how much taller it looked up close. Sonic nearly fell backwards trying to look at the top. Afterwards, Bell led them inside the interior where a large hole was easily noticed. It had stairs that spiraled down along the walls of the hole. Once they climbed down the stairs, the once stone bricks quickly turned to natural rock. The walls were a dark shade of green and dots of luminescence spread everywhere lit up the tunnel in a dim yet visible light.

"Woah…" Sonic mumbled in awe. He has explored a few caves before, but this was probably the best one he has been in so far. The dim lighting and calm silence made him feel at ease, like he could casually take a walk through here when he was bored. But at the same time, he also felt on edge with his silent it was. There was a mysterious feeling like something unnatural was watching him, observing him like a predator.

"This is the dungeon? I thought I would be more dreadful, this is just a silent tunnel with a lack of supposed monsters" Caliburn huffed. He thought that he would be able to witness dangerous beasts and cut them down, but all they were doing was taking a leisurely stroll!

"The dungeon itself doesn't look that scary, it's just that the monsters here make it scary" Bell explained while glancing around a bit, "Besides, we'll find some monsters here sooner or later" The sword sighed in resignation and they continued exploring the area. It took the better part of fifteen minutes before they even encountered anything.

It started when Sonic heard a sound nearby. It sounded somewhat like rock crumbling and something dropping to the floor.

"Hold on, I think I hear something" he said while holding out his hand. Caliburn looked at him in confusion and surprise while Bell seemed to have expected this by the straight look on his face. Then, small footsteps along with some growls began to move around and get closer to where they were standing. The source of them of the sound came out from behind a corner and they got to see what it was. It was a short green creature that was just a little shorter than Sonic. Large bulbous head with a horn, glowing red eyes, small fangs, and slender limbs with claws walked out while looking around.

"...What the hell is that?" Sonic asked. That abomination of a creature looked disgusting and the thought of even touching it was even worse.

"That's a goblin, it's one of the weaker monsters here on the first few floors. They just take a few hits to kill" Bell explained as he pulled out his dagger and crouched. He then dashed forward and slashed at the monster it could even notice him. The attack cut a huge gash into the side of its chest and dark red blood gushed out while it screeched in pain. Before it could turn around, Bell was quicker as he spun around and stabbed it right between the eyes. The goblin let out one more cry before it disappeared in a puff of black ash. In its place was a small magic stone like the one they saw the girl give which then was picked up and placed in a small pouch.

"Was that it? That monster looked more revolting than terrifying in my opinion" Caliburn said with a disappointed tone.

"I agree, Ms. Eina describes them to be the bane of the earth and a threat to everyone. That thing looked like it would die with just a kick" Sonic added. The creature hardly looked like a challenge for him and he might get bored of them quickly. Even the sight of blood didn't faze him as much as it would for normal people, he's bled way too many times for it to make him feel sick.

"Like I said, these are the weaker monsters. They get much stronger the deeper you go down. Besides, they can be dangerous if there's a group and they surround you" Bell said while walking over to them.

"Please, not even a horde of them can make me break a sweat" Sonic boasted with a scoff. After facing creatures the size of skyscrapers and being strong enough to easily level them, a small group of those monsters would be a piece of cake. Suddenly, they heard another growl from behind them and they turned back to look. This time, it was a dog like creature that was standing on its two legs with a bush of gray fur around its neck.

"What monster is that?" Caliburn asked.

"It's a kobold, they also roam around here like the goblins. They're a little stronger than them, so you should be careful" Bell said while raising his dagger, only to be stopped by Sonic holding out his hand.

"Let us take a shot at them. We've got to do some fighting at this point" he said while grabbing Caliburn's hilt and shifting to a relaxed stance. The kobold howled and charged at the hedgehog with its claws lunging to scratch them. Sonic easily blocked the attack and flung it back with a shove. The moment it hit the ground, he shot forward and cleaved the monster in half. Just like the goblin, the kobold turned into ash and a magic stone dropped to the ground.

"Wow, you're pretty strong! Even I can't kill them as easily as you did!" Bell gushed in amazement. Despite being the first time he has fought one, Sonic took out the monster like it was nothing. What was more surprising was how fast he was when he killed it, he dashed to it in an instant. Bell might have been decently fast, but his familia member already seemed to be much faster than he was.

"Why are you impressed? This monster was hardly anything to receive praise, there are livestock more fearsome than this" Caliburn ranted in annoyance, not being bothered by the small specks of blood splattered onto his blade.

"Oh, was this monster so weak that killing it brought disgrace to the almighty Caliburn?" Sonic asked sarcastically, "If so, I can gladly just put you away and defeat them myself"

"Spare me the sarcasm. I shall bear with it for now until we encounter a more suitable opponent. For now, we must continue killing these beasts to acquire their magic stones. The more we have, the more we earn when we exchange them at the Guild. So let's go, Sir Sonic and Knave" Caliburn said.

"Knave?"

"It's just his name for people who aren't good enough to meet his standards. He used to call me that, so my advice is to just deal with it for now" Sonic explained quietly. Bell just glanced back at the sword and let out a sigh.

"Yes sir" Both of them said, one of them giving a mock salute.

"No way! Are you sure this is real Goddess?!" Bell exclaimed in both disbelief and joy as he stared at the paper clutches tightly in both hands. After a few hours of moving through the dungeon and killing monsters, the group traded in their magic stones for a decent amount of valis and walked back to the familia home. Hestia decided to update their status to see how they were progressing and it was a big shock to see their stats.

"What's the big deal with all of this? Your stats went up by a lot, why are you acting like you won a grand prize?" Sonic asked in mild annoyance. The shouting was getting on his nerves and the reason for it was completely unnecessary.

"It is a big deal! My stats never went up this much before, and I do that much in the first place! If this keeps up, I can get stronger in no time!" Bell argued, "In fact, you should be excited as well! Didn't your stats go up a lot as well?"

Letting out a loud sigh, Sonic glanced back at his status sheet and looked over it. His stats did go up by a considerable amount, according to them. The largest increase was to his agility, which was now almost at two hundred. The thing was, he didn't really understand the significance of these stats and if they really affect him. It had said before that he was just a beginner, but he was just as strong and fast as he always was. Maybe the falna was just for show in his circumstance.

"Goddess, do you know why my stats went up like this?" Bell asked while turning to the goddess. Despite the supposedly good news, Hestia didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as the boy did. In fact, she actually looked very annoyed and borderline angry at all of this. With a huff, she stood up off the bed and walked over to the closet.

"Well isn't that great for you. If you're so happy then, why don't you just eat dinner without me" she said with a bear growl as she rummaged through the closet and pulled out a long coat that nearly went down to her ankles. Putting it in, she started to march to the stairs with a grumpy expression.

"Hey Hestia, where ya going?" Sonic asked with a confused expression. He had no idea why she was angry or better yet why she was leaving all of a sudden. The small goddess froze in place as she tried to think of an excuse.

"I have to attend something at the food cart!" She shouted before she quickly dashed up the stairs and out of view. The three pairs of eyes stared at the stairs for a few moments before looking at each other.

"What on earth was that about? She was practically throwing a tantrum for reasons that I can't understand" Caliburn scoffed.

"I know, she seemed perfectly okay when we got here and now she stormed off. Maybe it has to do with Bell's stats, she started getting made after she updated him?" Sonic suggested.

"I don't know why she would get made at my status. It did have a large increase, but shouldn't that have made her happy? Getting stronger will help us get to a better place" Bell said while shrugging. None of them had any idea what was the cause for the goddess's strange behavior. They would have talked more about it when suddenly they heard a loud grumbling. Bell and Caliburn looked momentarily surprised before slowly turning to the blue hedgehog who had a sheepish expression on his face.

"Looks like going into the dungeon really worked up my appetite" he said while scratching the back of his head. The boy let out a few chuckles while the sword rotated left and right, mimicking the action of shaking its head.

"Of all the time for your stomach to start voicing its demands" Caliburn sighed, "I guess it's a sign for us to eat something. If I remember correctly, that waitress from this morning did invite us to the tavern"

"That's right!" Sonic shouted in agreement. Within a few seconds, he had grabbed ahold of his bag of money, Bell's wrist, and Caliburn's hilt before starting to drag them up the stairs, "I'll be darned if I miss the chance to eat some food!"

"Sonic! Wait! Is it okay to leave without telling the goddess?!" Bell exclaimed in surprise as he tried not to stumble.

"It's fine, we'll be back in a few hours so there isn't any harm. Besides, Hestia looks like she needs some time to cool off" he brushed off as he finally let go of them and started to jog faster. The two others let out a sigh before speeding up to catch up with their friend.

After jogging through the dark city at a brisk pace, it only took them a few minutes to reach their destination. They quickly recognize the street from earlier and afterwards the specific building the girl was standing in front of. It was a wooden structure with a few windows and a sign that read, 'Hostess of Fertility'. The entrance was brightly lit and standing right there was the girl they met. She quickly noticed them and waved to them as they walked to the front of the entrance.

"Hey, you made it! I was thinking that you wouldn't show up" she said with a smile.

"Well, here we are. It was nice of you to invite us" Bell said with an awkward smile.

"Oh yeah, I never introduced myself. Hi, my name is Syr Flova" she greeted with a small bow.

"Bell Cranel"

"You can call me Sonic, and the weirdo there is Caliburn" Sonic butted in while jabbing his thumb to the sword.

"Who are you calling weird?! Caliburn retorted, completely affronted by his description. Syr looked surprised for a moment but then let out a giggle.

"A talking sword? You don't see that everyday. Now, come in a take a seat" she said as she led them inside. The interior was filled with tables and chairs with lots of adventurers occupying them. Some were talking, some were arguing, and most of them seemed to be having a good time. Syr had led them to the bar with seats that were right next to the corner. Standing in the bar was tall woman who practically towered over everyone and looked strong enough to Knock someone out with a single punch. Once they sat down, Syr asked what drinks they wanted and soon came back with a cup of water and a mug of ale. Despite never trying alcohol, Sonic was curious to see how it tasted and if he had any tolerance for it. Before any of them could even touch their drinks, the lady, who said her name was Mia, slammed down a large plate of pasta right in front of Bell.

"Hey, so you were the ones Syr was talking about. I didn't think they made adventurers as cute as you" She loudly said with a boisterous grin while looking at Bell before turning to Sonic, "You too shorty, I thought you were a pet with how small you are"

"Please don't pick on us" Bell said with a little annoyance while Sonic just gave her the meanest glare he could muster up. Though all it did was make her laugh and continue to do her work.

"You know, I came here to eat food, not to be made fun of" Sonic mumbled as he took a sip of the ale, which tasted surprisingly pretty good for him. The lady soon came back and slammed a plate of what seemed like fried catfish in front of him this time. While he started to dig into the food immediately, Bell seemed to be making calculations on the meal cost and was shocked when he saw the price of the catfish on the menu behind him.

"So, how's the food so far?" Syr asked, appearing right next to Bell.

"Good" was all the hedgehog said before continuing to stuff his face with catfish. The sword behind him looked at him in concern and then annoyance when he tried offering food, shouting that swords couldn't consume food.

"It's good, and also very expensive" Bell said with a nervous chuckle. The catfish alone was 800 valis, which was a pretty hefty cost for a dish, though it must have been good considering how much Sonic eating it. It was good that the two of them made a lot in the dungeon or else this dinner would have left him broke.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" she said with a sad tone that was obviously fake before starting to giggle, "But it looks like I'll be making lots of money tonight"

"Good for you" Sonic and Bell deadpanned before going back to their meals.

"But honestly, I really love my job. Not because of the money, but because of all the new things I learn" Syr said while looking across the tavern, "Every person here always have something new to say, stories to share, and do much joy to celebrate. It makes each and every night amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world"

"I must agree, taverns are places to share tales and be merry. Regardless of where you come from or who you are, all differences are no more when you gather together and share drinks" Caliburn said in a solemn tone.

"What would you know about that? You can't even drink anything" Sonic said while poking the sword jokingly.

"I don't need to consume food to understand how to enjoy things, imbecile!" The sword retorted sharply while hopping. All three of them fell into a fit of laughter and Caliburn soon joined them as well.

"Nya! The party with the reservation has arrived!" Another waitress who had cat features like the ears and tail called out from the entrance, a large group of people following right behind her. The group was led by a red hair women who was hardly wearing anything yet still gave off a tomboyish vibe. They ones behind her were more diverse, from a tall elf with green hair, a short blonde boy who barely seemed to be in his teens, a gray hair man with wolf ears and tail, two dark skinned women who were wearing even less than the first, and even more amongst them. Finally, a young girl with long blonde hair and gold eyes was at the very back of the group. From the moment they walked in, the entire tavern started to whisper amongst themselves about them.

"Aw yeah, now that's what I'm talking about"

"Look at the emblem dummy, that's the Loki familia"

"So they're the giant slayers"

"You better watch your mouth, that's the sword princess"

From what Sonic could pick up, they seemed to be some famous group that were known for killing some type of giant. Even from where he was sitting, he could already tell that they were very strong and powerful. That just meant some competition we would fight against some day. Caliburn seemed to have the same thoughts judging by the observant look he was giving them. Bell though, he seemed to be lost in a trance as his face was bright red and wasn't responding even to Syr waving her hand in front of his face.

The group sat down at the tables that have been empty since he got there, most likely because the waitress said they had a reservation. Then, large platters of food and lots of drinks were served to all of them very quickly despite them just getting there.

"Good job guys, you really kicked that dungeons ass!" The red hair shouted while raising her mug, "So tonight we feast! EAT, DRINK, AND GET DRUNK!" With that, all of them bumped their drinks together in cheers and began to feast. Most of them started to talk and joke with each other while others were gorging down on their foods to no ends. Overall, it was a great celebration with lots of laughter and joy.

"My, aren't they quite a rowdy bunch" Caliburn noted while raising one eyebrow.

"The Loki familia are one of our best customers. I guess their goddess really likes to come here" Syr explained while looking at them. Bell didn't say anything as he was just staring at them with an almost dreamy expression on his face. Sonic looked at him curiously and followed his line of sight to see if he was looking at one of them. Surely enough, he found that the boy was only staring at the blonde girl who almost all the guys in the tavern were ogling at when she walked in. Admittedly, she was quite beautiful and he understood why people would fall for her once they saw her. But this was the perfect chance to tease him and he wasn't going to pass this up.

"So Bell, see someone there you like?" Sonic asked, feigning an innocent tone. Bell immediately turned bright red and nearly spat out his drink with his incoherent sputtering.

"W-What?! Of c-course not! W-why would you say that?!" He yelled back, stuttering with every sentence or so. He unwillingly fell right into his trap.

"I don't know, you looked a little lovestruck there for a second" the hedgehog continued to tease with a sky grin, "Was it that blonde girl? I saw you staring at her" Before Bell could even think of a rebuttal, someone beat him to the punch.

"Oh, you set your eyes on a fair maiden?" Caliburn asked with a mischievous look, "I must admit, you have for taste for a knave. Do tell us how you plan to court her"

"Are you talking about the Sword Princess, Aiz Wallenstein? Nearly everyone man in Orario is in love with her, it makes sense that Bell would too" Syr giggled, joining in on the teasing. At this point, Bell was just shrinking in on himself in an attempt to try and get away from his embarrassment. He just wanted to enjoy his dinner, not be picked on everyone around him.

"Hold on, Aiz Wallenstein?! Bell mentioned her yesterday, saying how he was already in love with her" Sonic exclaimed in realization. That fact just made it all the better for him, "So that explains why you were staring at her. You wanted to stare at you crush and think of all the ways to ask her out!"

"Please stop" Bell whined, his entire face was as red as his eyes and he was practically under the counter at this point to get away from them. That only made them laugh even harder as they decided they would put their teasing in pause.

"As don't worry buddy, we're just messing with you. If you want to like the girl then go ahead, no one's stopping you from doing it. Just be prepared for some jokes I might make" he said while patting the boy on the back. Bell looked at him with a withering glare which looked more like a grumpy child, though it took some effort not to burst out laughing from that. He reluctantly got back up and shook his head as he placed his hand on his forehead.

"If you say so" he muttered quietly. After a few chuckles, they continued to eat their food in relative silence. The Loki familia soon began to calm down and made less noise as they went back to enjoying their meals. Soon, the two of them had finished their food and ready to pay the somewhat hefty bill. Before they could, a loud shout was heard across the building.

"Hey Aiz! Why don't you tell them that story from yesterday! It was fucking hilarious" The wolf man shouted, his red tinted cheeks and near dazed look clearly suggested that he was very drunk.

"And story was that?"

"What, you know what I'm talking about! All those damn minotaurs got loose, you finished off the last one on the fifth floor right? You had to save that tomato dumbass" Immediately, Bell and Sonic's eyes widened and whipped their heads towards the group. Bell had a look of disbelief on his face while Sonic and Caliburn were giving the wolf suspicious looks.

"So here's what happened. There was this pansy running around on the fifth floor, then this big ugly sucker shows up and starts chasing him" the wolf began to narrate, "So Aiz comes in and cuts the thing to pieces. The wuss got absolutely covered in blood, he looked just like a damn tomato!" A few of the members started to laugh some other stayed quiet and listened to the story.

"And check this out, then the tomato dude runs away screaming his head off! The dumbass just ups and ran away from the one who saved him! What a pathetic jackass!" The wolf continued, practically yelling for the entire tavern to see while laughing loudly.

"Who the hell does that guy think he is laughing at that? Bell could have died and he treats its like its some joke!" Sonic growled angrily while gripping his mug tightly.

"That is rather unsightly, one's near death should not be used for casual jest. That man should be ashamed of himself for doing such" Caliburn scoffed in both anger and disgust.

Bell could hardly keep his thoughts straight with everything going on. He knew that running away from her like that was cowardly, but this guy basically saying to his face that he was weak. He knew he was weak, but so weak that they made fun of him for it? All he could do was grip his knees and try to block out the sound.

"That's quite enough out of you Bete, the only reason the minotaurs escaped from the seventeenth floor was because of our mistake. It wasn't the kids fault, don't even try it" The green hair elf sharply said while leveling a cold glare at him. Though it seemed to have no effect as he hardly looked scared or intimidated.

"What?! The dumbass was biting off more than he could chew trying to be a hero! Ask Aiz, she knows what I'm talking about!" He argued back while turning to the blonde, "Tell her the truth! Who the big, strong, and handsome hero: Me or that scrawny tomato turd?!"

_Wait a minute, so they were the reason why that monster was there and that guy still thinks he can diss Bell about it?!_, Sonic thought in shock and anger as he now turned to clenching his fists to not break anything. He was right about to yell a snarky insult to see how that idiot wolf would like it, but a nudge from Caliburn made him look over and all of his built up rage instantly simmered down.

Bell was looking even angrier than he was, his fists and eyes clenched tightly and his entire body was shaking. It looked like he was going to snap at any second now. He was so pissed if with the guy that he didn't realize that his friend was both mad and completely embarrassed. If he didn't calm down, he would only draw attention to himself and embarrass himself even more while wallowing in self deprecation. The best way to do it was to take his mind off it, and Sonic knew exactly what to do.

"I asked you a question Aiz! What would you do if that kid walked up to you and said he had the hits for you? I'm sure you tell him to get lost, right!" The wild continued, getting even louder and angrier by the second. Aiz was simply glaring at him with annoyance, "That weak crybaby has no right to be beat you! You're _way_ too good for that loser! Can you imagine a brat like him as your partner, not with the Aiz Wallenstein!"

Until then, Bell was trying his hardest to keep his emotions in check. He tried not to let those words get to him, but every single sentence cut into him like a knife. From the moment he met her, he wanted to become stronger just for the chance to be recognized by her. But every single that man said was true, he was just a delusional idiot that could never hope to be next to someone like her. With that last sentence, he stood up ready to dash out of there and away from everything when…

***WHOOSH***

***SPLASH***

"Bwahh! What the hell!" Bete shouted in surprise as he fell back after something splashed into his face. While the Bell's chair being shoved out was quite loud, it was practically a whisper compared to the crash of the wolf falling to the floor. Everyone was looking at him in total shock and surprise as they tried to understand what happened. In an instant, something caused Bete's drink to splash into his face despite not holding it judging by how it was wobbling and currently empty. No one saw what had happened, it was one moment that he was yelling and the next on the floor with alcohol spilled all over his face and shirt. The only thing people saw was a sudden gust of wind in the building and what Aiz saw, as she was the only one paying attention, was a flash of blue around the table.

"Hold on Bell, we still have to pay for the meals" Sonic calmly said while grabbing the boy's wrist. Bell looked back at his familia member to see that he was giving him a small grin while Caliburn looked at the hedgehog in exasperation. He still didn't understand what had just happened, but he was actually a little glad that it did as it made him feel marginally and stopped from running off.

"Thanks for the food, it was pretty good" As the hedgehog dropped a pouch filled with the necessary amount of valis onto the counter, he mentally gave himself a pat in the back. Running to the table to take the guy's drink and splash him in the face with it before running back without anyone who did it was both impressive and very satisfying. Now that he got what he deserved and Bell seemed to have calmed down made it the perfect time to get out of there. He stood up and walked out of there with the other two trailing behind him.

"Was that really necessary?" Caliburn asked exasperatedly.

"Of course, he was fine embarrassing someone in public so he should handle being embarrassed as well" he retorted. By now, the shock went away and everyone started to laugh at the fallen wolf who still looked dazed and quickly starting to become angry. While he would have just left it at that and walked out of there, he had a bad habit of always rubbing salt on wounds when it comes to insults. He stopped in his place and turned around to face the group

"Hey, wolf boy!" He yelled while cupping his hands around his mouth. The familia turned around and looked to see a blue anthropomorphic animal with a white hair person and sword standing next to it, "How about you try _drinking _it next time?"

"What ya say to me?!" Bete growled at him while trying to get back up. His threat was barely audible over everyone roaring with laughter and trying to not fall out of there seats. Even some members of his familia like the dark skinned girls were clutching their stomachs in pain from all the laughter they were doing. The only one bit laughing was Aiz, who recognized not only the possible culprit for the prank, but also the same boy she met in the dungeon after saving him.

"Let's go!" Sonic shouted to his teammates before dashing out of the tavern. Bell floundered a little and quickly followed suit while Caliburn groaned while floating after them.

"Why would you do that?! That could've ended horribly wrong!" Bell cried in exasperation as he pushed himself to keep pace with the hedgehog.

"I couldn't help it. Besides, can he really call other people weaklings when he can't handle a little splash?" Sonic asked with a huge grin. Bell's eyes widened a bit as he realized what he meant by that, to which he let out a small grin as well with a few chuckles.

"I swear, you are going to be the end of me one day" Caliburn scolded, but even he couldn't hide the grin on his face. The other two let out a few laughs as they ran through the dark streets back to their home.

**Welp, this one was also longer than I thought. I don't want to give the impression that future chapters are going to as long as this one, just expect them to be shorter. But still, please leave a review for any suggestions on what happens next in the story. Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

When the three of them got back to the church, Hestia was already waiting for them. She seemed to have cooled down from the outburst from earlier as she apologized for storming out for no reason. None of them held anything against her and easily forgave her. Then, they told her about their night at the tavern and what had went down there. She was obviously mad at what the wolf guy had said, but it quickly turned to satisfaction when she learned about his spilt drink.

"Good, he got what he deserved for making fun of my Bell" she declared while laughing.

"While I do agree, I am still shocked how this idiot had the audacity to do it to him" Caliburn said while pointedly looking at the hedgehog. Sonic froze a little when Bell and Hestia snapped their heads in his direction instantly and then gave the sword a glare for ratting him out.

"That was you?!" They exclaimed.

"I confess, I did splash the jerk in the face with his drink. He had it coming, and it wasn't like anyone else knows it was me" he admitted while putting his hands up.

"Well, I get why you did it, but how?" Bell asked, the shock going away and now was replaced with curiousity, "I didn't even see you move or get near the table. How did you move so fast, I thought you were a level one?" The only answer he got was a few chuckles and a mischievous smirk. It looks like he wouldn't be getting an explanation for now, but surely he'll get one in the future.

"The bigger question isn't how I did what I did, but rather what are you going to do about what that guy said" Sonic said, donning a more serious expression.

"Ah Yes, the boy looked like he was right about to do something before you stopped him. I assume he was going to run out, but to where? Maybe back home for comfort, maybe a secluded place to be alone, or maybe even that dungeon to prove the wolf wrong?" Caliburn suggested while looking at him.

Bell felt his breath hitch with that last suggestion. He was planning on going into the dungeon so he could prove that he wasn't weak. It was a suicidal idea, considering he was going alone at night without any armor, but he wasn't thinking straight at that moment. All he could think about was how that the guy was right and he was too weak to even stand next to her. His slight reaction must have been noticed as Hestia now had a sad look on her face.

"Bell, I know you want to get strong and I also wish for you to become stronger, but I also want you to be safe. I don't want you to recklessly throw away your life just to prove a point" she said while placing her hand on top of his.

"She's right, it doesn't matter what that guy says about you. It's okay to want to be stronger, but don't run head first into danger to do it. Just train at your own pace and you'll do just fine!" Sonic said with a thumbs up. Behind them, Caliburn was muttering something about him being a hypocrite for saying that, but none of them heard it or chose to acknowledge it.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have overreacted like that. It's just that I don't want to be weak, someone that always needs to be saved. I want to show that I can fight and be able to stand by her" Bell said, nearly on the verge of tears. He didn't want to be seen as a pitiful person that can't do anything, but he also wanted to be able to help his goddess. She helped him when no one else did and he promised to always stay by her. If he didn't become stronger, he would just be wasting her generosity.

"Okay, then I'll help you become stronger" Sonic suggested. Both Bell and Hestia looked at him with surprised looks again, "What, he says he wants to be strong so he can fight for himself. I can help him do so, I am part of the familia as well so it my job to help"

"Really? Thank you!" Bell cried as he wiped his eyes to get rid of the tears. The hedgehog chuckled and patted the boy on the back.

"If that's how it's going to be, I shall also assist the boy" Caliburn spoke up, loud enough that they noticed him and faced towards him.

"Oh? I never thought you would be the type to help someone like this. You usually act so pompous and dignified"

"I do not act pompous! It's just that most people are idiots. Anyways, I shall help train this knave into something worthwhile. You can train his physical capabilities while I teach him proper techniques for fighting" The sword explained while casting an annoyed glare at Sonic.

"Fine, we both train him in different things. We can start in the morning for a few minutes before heading into the dungeon" Sonic said while returning the glare with a smirk.

"Now that we got that out of the way, I think we should go to sleep now" Hestia said while stifling a small yawn. They all seemed to have the same idea as they made their way to their sleeping spot and lied down, which they soon fell asleep after a few minutes.

...

When Sonic woke up and slowly opened his eyes, there were a few things in his mind immediately. He didn't have that weird dream again like yesterday and had a completely dreamless slumber. This only made him more confused as he now had more questions than before. If it was only a dream, why did it seem both too random and too specific at the same time. Maybe it was just some strange dream he had and he didn't have it last night, or it could've been real and that strange Joker person decided not to talk to him last night. There were too many questions and practically no answers, so he decided to wait and see what happens tonight.

Caliburn and Bell woke up just moments after him and they quickly got their gear ready before walking outside. Once they stepped outside of the church, Caliburn finally spoke the first word of the morning.

"Now that you are ready, we shall begin your training" he said while looking at Bell, "You will spar with Sir Sonic while I judge and critic your form. Do you have any questions, knave?"

"Yeah, What will you be teaching me exactly? You said something about technique, but I don't know what to work on" Bell asked.

"For today, you will work on basic combat. Knowing just that will be much better than just swinging a blade and trying to make it hit something" By then, the sword was already in the hedgehog's hand as they assumed a stance.

"So Bell, do you want to try attacking or defending?" Sonic asked.

"Umm, Both?"

"Okay then, heads up" That was the only warning he got before Sonic practically disappeared and reappeared in front of him, right about to swing Caliburn down. Bell barely dodged it as he leaped to the side and rolled across the ground. He looked up and his face met a piece of flat metal that lightly bumped into his face. It was still enough to knock him over.

"What are you doing?! You didn't even try a defensive stance and just left yourself wide open!" Caliburn yelled, "Always be ready to defend yourself!"

"Yes, Sir!" Bell shouted while getting back up. Sonic charged at him again and this time, he was able to bring up his dagger and stop block the sword. He was pushing against the blade to try and move the sword back, then something slammed into his stomach and made him drop to his knees while clutching his guts.

"Pay attention! Don't focus on the weapon, focus on the opponent! They don't have to use their weapons to harm you, so be more observant!"

"Yes, Sir" Bell wheezed as he shakily stood up and readied his weapon. For the next few minutes, the two of them were going back and forth with atta is that usually led to the boy falling down. After some advice from Caliburn and Bell getting back up, they would repeat the cycle again. Sonic was mostly stuck in the middle as he followed the sword's advice on how to hit him while also letting the boy rest for a few seconds so he could catch his breath. Still, he was still having fun sparring with Bell and he hoped the boy would grow stronger like he wished.

"What are you boys doing?!" An angry voice yelled from right behind them. They paused their fight and turned around to see an angry Hestia stomping towards them, "First, all that noise you were making woke me up and now I come outside to see you brawling with each other!"

"Hey Hestia, we were just doing some training. Sorry if we woke you up" Sonic said with a sheepish smile.

"How on earth did she hear us from down there?" Caliburn muttered to himself with a quizzical expression.

"Fine, but don't be so loud next time" she sighed while massaging her head. She then started to walk back inside the church before pausing, "By the way, I'm going to be gone for a few days so take care of yourselves until then"

"Huh, is there some sort of event that you need to go to?" Bell asked curiously as he wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Sort of, it's just a banquet that the gods can attend. I got an invite so I thought that it wouldn't hurt to go there. Like I said, I'll be gone for about two or three days so don't get into trouble" With that, she walked back inside and close the door. Sonic and Bell looked at each other for a few seconds and simply shrugged. They decided that they did enough training for that day and took a minute for Bell to properly rest up before they began to walk towards the dungeon.

"Man, my everything is sore from all of that. I never knew you were this strong, though I wished you toned it down a bit" Bell said as he stretched his arms.

"Knave, you do realize that he was going easy on you. Had he used more power, I'm sure you would have a broken rib at the very least" Caliburn scoffed as he floated next to him. Bell looked at him in shock and then turned to Sonic with a pleading look in his eyes, almost begging to say that the sword was over exaggerating. But his hopes were crushed when the hedgehog gave a sheepish smile and a few forced chuckles.

"Am I going to survive this training?" Bell asked nervously.

"Don't worry, I'll try to hold back for now until you get used to it. Then you should start worrying" Sonic answered with a small smirk. Despite that, the boy felt more scared of what was to come for the next couple of days.

"Hey you guys!" A voice called out from up ahead. Their eyes glanced up to see Syr waving at them in front of the tavern.

"Oh, hey Syr!" Sonic yelled back while jogging over to her. Bell followed suit while Caliburn made no effort to catch up and simply took his time.

"It's good to see you two again. Last night was lots of fun, especially near the end"

"Y-Yeah, it was pretty fun. The food was good as well" Bell replied with a small stutter.

"Thanks, I hope both of you come back again. For now, you should take this with you. It's lunch" She said before handing Bell a small box that was wrapped in cloth. It looked exactly the same as the one from yesterday.

"What, I can't take this!"

"Why not? I want you to" she said while making puppy eyes at him. It seems that the cuteness won out in the end as he eventually accepted it. Though, he did ignore the not so subtle snickers coming from his two companions.

"I guess we should be going now. Thanks for the lunch Syr" Sonic said as he dragged Bell away while waving goodbye to the waitress. The sword followed after them and they all resumed their original path of going to the dungeon.

**A few hours later…**

On the other side of the city, there was a huge building that seemed to be holding a party, judging from all the lights and sound that were coming from it. Its most distinguishing feature was the huge statue that sat at the very entrance of it. The statue bore resemblance to a muscular man sitting down with his arms crossed. Instead of a normal face, it had a mask that resembled an elephant. Large stairs led to the front of the building where people would then have to enter...through the crotch of the statue.

That one detail seemed to have weirded out nearly everyone who saw it. Some would stand in complete confusion right in front of it while others would close their eyes and bravely enter the building. There were even some that took one glance at it and promptly left without a word. Though it seemed that either most of them just ignored the oddity or found another entrance as the inside was filled with people. Everything inside shined brightly as the walls, floors, and decorations looked to be made of gold and jewels. Various gods were standing around, mingling amongst themselves and taking sips of fancy wines.

At the center of the room on a stage was a man who the statue at the front was made into. Unlike most of the attendees, he wasn't wearing any form of formal clothing, just pants and a sash to cover his bare chest. He was Ganesha, the god of a massive familia and the one to host the party. Right now, he was yelling and shouting different things with with a boisterous grin while most of the other gods just looked at him with amused smirks.

"There he goes again, practically nothing has changed for him" one of the gods said.

"I know, but check out those two! Looks like Takemikazuchi and Hermes are getting along" Another said while pointing to a pair of gods. One of them was wearing a traditional far eastern outfit while the other was wearing an over the top suit.

"No way, check it out guys! It's the goddess of beauty, Freya!" A third energetically said while looking towards the stairs. The other two quickly snapped their heads in that direction and looked to see three people walking down the stair case. Two of them were normal guys wearing suits, but the third was what caught their eye. The woman in front of them had long silver hair and violet eyes that shone like jewels. Her skin was perfectly smooth and her figure was unnaturally perfect as well. She looked around the ballroom until her eyes spotted someone of interest and smiled as she walked towards them. She walked over to where platters of different types of food were placed. Crouching down next to the table, a short raven hair goddess was swiftly taking some do the food and stuffing them into a plastic container.

"Why hello Hestia" Freya said with an innocent smile. Hestia flinched in surprise and turned around to face the taller goddess. In her mouth was piece of food that she was in the middle of nibbling on before she was interrupted.

"Oh, hey Freya. Never thought you would show up" she replied with a bored tone.

"My, you sound like you don't want me here?"

"Not really, I'm just never in the mood to deal with you" Hestia answered bluntly. Freya let out a soft giggle as she smiled at the short goddess.

"That honesty is why I enjoy talking with you Hestia" she said.

"Well, at least you aren't that annoying. Unlike some others I know" Hestia said with annoyance as she spotted a person running down the stairs right towards them.

"It's Freya, and shrimpy" the woman said as she came to a complete stop right next to them. Both of them easily recognized her as Loki, the goddess of one of the strongest familias in Orario. Freya didn't seem to mind the sudden intrusion as she turned her head in her direction.

"It's good to see you as well, Loki" she said with a smile.

"Ugh, what are you doing here Loki?" An the opposite side of the spectrum, Hestia didn't seem to enjoy the presence of the goddess.

"Honey, I'm Loki. I do whatever I want and go wherever I want" Loki answered with a condescending smirk. Hestia sighed in more annoyance as she thought of why she has to be here of all places. Suddenly, she remembered that she wanted to ask her a question that's been on her mind for a little.

"Actually, this is perfect. There's a question I've been meaning to ask you" She said.

"Yeah, What is peewee?" Hestia had to swallow the insult that was right about to come out of her mouth, lest Loki decides not to answer to be petty.

"Well, it's about that sword princess of yours, Wallenwhatsit or something. I was wondering if she had a partner or anything?" She asked in a mumble. If she was taken, then Bell would have no choice but to give up on her and look for some other girl. Loki seemed to be very offended by that question and looked ready to kill someone.

"What?! Aiz is my favorite human! Any guy that get near her, I'll tear them to shreds!" She growled while here eyes widened a bit to show her flaring crimson eyes. Most of Hestia's hope was crushed in an instant with that statement, but some remained. If Loki was that protective of her, then Bell may not be able to get together with her. But now, she wasn't liking the glare being sent her way so she sent on right back.

"You two seem to get along so well" Freya commented from the side with a laugh.

"No we don't!" They both exclaimed in anger before returning to their glaring match.

"If you insist, but I also have something I must ask," she said before turning to Loki, "I'm quite curious Loki, what made you dress up like this tonight? You've never been the type to wear such glamorous attire"

Loki quickly stopped glaring at Hestia and turned her focus onto the other goddess. She had a simple smile before answering, "Oh, this? I just heard that a certain goddess would be here and I wanted to look my absolute best to mock her for being too poor to buy a real dress"

Hestia snarled a little as she saw the red hair goddess looked down at her with a mocking smirk. Her financial state was one of the two things that she was insecure about, the other being her short stature. Even though she came here for a specific purpose, she wasn't going to let that insult go by. An evil smirk grew on her lips as she stared back at Loki, who started to look confused and a little hesitant.

"That's quite funny, Loki. I'm actually having quite a laugh as well. Because seriously, you showed up to the party without any boobs!" She shouted while pointing at her chest. Similar to how Hestia was insecure about being poor, Loki was insecure for having a very flat chest. That was the only form of leverage the small goddess had when it came to insults and she made sure to exploit it.

Loki gasped in shock as she instinctively covered her chest and only felt more angry when it fully settled that there wasn't anything. Her face was turning a bright shade of red from both anger and embarrassment. She was right about to snap, and Hestia's haughty laughter pushed he passed the edge. Lunging forward, she grabbed the small goddess by the cheeks and lifted her off the ground in an impressive feat of strength.

"Damn brat, you're going to get it this time!" She growled while pinching and pulling the cheeks to cause the most pain and embarrassment she could.

"Let me gooo!" Hestia cries as she flailed around to get out of her grip. All around them, the other gods and goddesses were gathering and cheering for them. This was a regular occurrence for them, so they found it as a reliable source of entertainment for them. Some of the gods were even making bets on who was going to lose, most getting. More ridiculous as turn went on. After a few minutes, Loki dropped Hestia to the ground and marched off in a huff.

"I'll let you go this time, consider yourself lucky!"

"Don't let me see those pathetic things again before I mistake you for a guy next time!" Hestia called out while holding her sore cheeks. While it was quite painful, it was worth it if she embarrassed Loki in front of everyone.

"Must you two always butt heads every time you meet?" A bored voice asked behind her. She quickly recognized the voice and turned around to face the person with lots of enthusiasm.

"Hephaestus!" The woman in question had short vibrant red hair and one eye that was just as red. The other was covered in a large black eyepatch. Her dress was also red with a single white flower on it, "I'm so glad to see you! I missed you so much!"

"Oh really? If you're trying to get money from me, you're not getting a single valis" Hephaestus said with a bored glare.

"How rude! I'm not the type of goddess that would freeload off my friend for money!" Hestia argued, looking completely offended.

"Actually, you were. You've freeloaded off my familia for months, and came crying back saying you couldn't find a home! How could I not assume you're trying to leech off me?!" Hephaestus argued back with an angry tone. Each sentence of her rant stabbed a figurative arrow right into her. As much as she hated to admit it, she did doing off her friend's generosity when she first arrived in the lower world. It eventually got to the point where she was kicked out and had to work to support herself.

"Fine, in may have done so before, but not any more! Because I have my own familia now!" Hestia declares while pointing at her. She was a proper goddess now and nothing she said will change that.

Despite it all, Hephaestus didn't seem that impressed, "Oh right, there's that Bell kid, with the white hair and red eyes. I'll admit, it's something at least"

"But that's where you're wrong! I have two members for your information!" Hestia was sure that would at least impress Hephaestus a little. She had two children in her familia, although the second was an interesting case, and she was going to gloat as much as she could.

"Really? That's actually nice to here, I guess you aren't such a lazy person as you were before" Hephaestus said with an extremely subtle smile. Maybe making a familia really changed her friend to be better. As they were talking, one of Freya's guards walked up to her and quietly whispered something in her ear.

"Hephaestus, Hestia, I must be going now. There is business I must attend to" she said.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Why yes, I was planning on checking on something. But I'm afraid there's no time for that" As she said that, her eyes fell on Hestia for a moment which didn't go unnoticed by the small goddess. With a wave, she promptly walked away from them and off somewhere else.

_Well that was odd_. Hestia thought. When she saw Freya glance at her, she saw a gleam of interest in her eyes and that worried her. Hopefully, whatever she was planning to do had nothing to do with her.

"So, I assume you still want something from me?" Hephaestus asked, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Bear in mind, whether I ever talk to you again depends on what you ask"

"Oh, alright then" Hestia muttered before taking a deep breath. What she was about to do would kill what little dignity she had left. As much as she didn't want to do it, she knew that it was the only way she could do it. With a small hop, she dropped to the ground and started to grovel at Hephaestus's feet, "I want you to make a weapon for Bell!"

...

"Hey Bell, whatcha looking at over there?" Sonic asked curiously. They had just cashed in their magic stones and were walking back to the familia home when Bell split off from them and gazed into a window. When he didn't answer him, Sonic moved closer to see what had caught his attention. Inside the window was a display case which was holding a short blade onto display. It certainly did look like good quality and the steep price of 800,000 valis really enforced it.

"Are you seriously checking out a weapon? I understand that you want to get a better blade than your current one, but you shouldn't be in such awe. This is only a regular blade" Caliburn notes while casting a disapproving look at the weapon.

"I know, but it would be nice to have a strong weapon. The one I have isn't going to be god after some time" Bell sighed as he pulled himself away from the glass. The blade did look good, but he couldn't afford the huge price with the money he was making now.

"Bell?" A voice asked from behind them. Bell turned around and saw that it was just the God Miach. He had deep blue hair with pale blue eyes. In his hands were a few bags with somethings like vegetables.

"Oh, hello Lord Miach" Bell said while bowing.

"You don't have to call me that, just call me Miach" he said with a small smile. He then noticed Sonic and Caliburn who were standing behind him and just watching, "Bell, who is that?"

"That's Sonic, he joined our familia a few days ago. Sonic, this is Lord Miach. He also has a small familia like us and our familia's are friends"

"Hey, nice to meet you Miach" Sonic said with a small wave. Miach looked surprised for just a moment, but quickly changed back to a neutral expression.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I am grateful that you decided to join Hestia's familia, she's been working hard to recruit more members. Though I am curious, I've never seen any species like you before"

"Oh, that? Others like me live far away from Orario and I'm the first one to go here" Sonic lied smoothly. His different village alibi would have to hold up until he found a way back home, so he has to stick with it. He had briefed Caliburn about some of it so he wouldn't worry about him spilling the secret.

"Lord Miach, What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at the banquet like all the other gods are?" Bell asked in confusion. The god thankfully turned his focus off of the hedgehog and back into the boy.

"Well, I actually did get an invite to go. The problem is that I'm far too busy to go, I still have to support my familia" he said while shifting the bags to show what he meant, "I should be going now. Here, you should take these" Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out two small glass vials of a light blue liquid. He handed them over to Bell, who took them and stared at them for a few moments. It took that long for him to realize what he had just received.

"I can't take these!" He shouted as he tried to give back the two vials, but Miach stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I want you to have them. Think of them as a gift for your patronage, and an invitation to keep doing business with my familia. Until then, take care Bell, and you as well Sonic" he said calmly before walking away.

"Umm, just out of curiosity, what are those?" Sonic asked. He assumed they must be valuable for Bell trying to give them back.

"Oh yeah, you're just came here. These are potions, drinking these heals any injuries you have. Though they only heal small things like cuts and bruises, they're still good to have" Bell explained.

"Potions that heal injuries? This city is certainly full of things that continue to surprise me" Caliburn said after being quiet the entire time.

"I agree, they sound pretty important to have in the dungeon. So, we should get back back home now that you're done ogling at that weapon" Sonic teased as he grabbed the sword and began to jogged away.

"I wasn't ogling!" Bell argued, somewhat embarrassed as he chased his two friends.

…

Hephaestus was currently working on paperwork in her dimly lit office. She had changed into her work clothes, which were a white button up and black pants. The majority of her work were basic things, like profits that the shops were making and information on upcoming shipment deals. Normally, she wouldn't have too much difficulty dealing with her workload, but today there was one small thing that had kept distracting her the entire time.

"Can you please stop that?" She asked impatiently to Hestia. The small goddess was currently on the floor in front of Hephaestus, kneeling with her head to the ground. She's been doing this ever since the party and hasn't shown any sign of letting up anytime soon.

"Not until you make a weapon for Bell" she said. Her main goal of coming to the banquet was to find the forge goddess and have her make a weapon. As ludicrous as it may seem, this was the only thing she could think of.

"Well, can you please stop doing whatever that is you're doing?"

"It's called groveling. Takemikazuchi told me that it's the best way to ask someone for a favor" Hestia clarified. The blacksmith goddess cursed under her breath about that god meddling in other people's business.

"Hestia, Why are you going so far with this?" Hephaestus asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Bell has been growing fast, almost too fast. He has a single goal and is heading straight to it, not even realizing how much danger he's putting himself in. He needs a weapon that can clear the path, strong enough that nothing can stop him" she said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Ever since Bell meet that Sword Princess, he's been growing at an extremely fast pace, so much so that it was completely unheard of. The reason for this growth was a skill she found, Liaris Freese. It said that it increases the growth of a person through strong emotions, and increase based on how strong those emotions were. She easily realized that Bell manifested that skill because he wanted to be closer to that girl. He wants to be strong enough that she would recognize him, even to the point that he was about to go to the dungeon unprepared to prove a point if he hadn't been stopped, "I just want to help him. He's done so much for me and I haven't done one single godly thing for him"

Hephaestus sighed as she massaged her temple. Despite how annoying it was, she did empathize with her. She didn't like when she wasn't able to help her children while they give so much to her. It was something like a parent caring for their kid, they wanted to support them and help them grow. She couldn't blame Hestia for wanting to do the same for her child and it was that thought that brought down all the barriers she put up to not go with the request.

"Fine, if it means so much to you, I'll do it" she said with a drawn out sigh while walking over to the goddess in the floor.

"Really?!" Hestia exclaimed, quickly getting back up, but her legs nearly buckled in on themselves had Hephaestus not caught her in time.

"Yeah, but remember that you'll be paying back every single valis you owe me, even if it takes decades"

"Okay then!" Hestia happily chirped, not phased at the thought of being in debt for so long. Hephaestus could only shake her head as she saw her friend look so happy. It was nice to see how much she changed from back then, she's become more serious and dedicated. Right as she was about to explain the details about the process, a small thought came to mind.

"Hestia, didn't you say you have two members in your familia? Are they going to be okay with you giving a strong weapon for only one of them?" She asked with some concern. Had it only been the one child, there wouldn't have been a single problem with it. But because she had a second one, they might get jealous and resentful for not getting anything. Greed was unfortunately very common among adventurers and it might cause lots of drama within her familia.

"He'll be fine, he already has an amazing weapon that even impress you" Hestia waves off with smugness in her tone.

"Oh really, I'll play along. What is this 'amazing' weapon that would even impress the likes of me?" Hephaestus asked in a playful manner. It was probably just an ordinary weapon that only looked cool or had some parlor trick to make it seem cool.

"Trust me, I think a sword that can talk is something you haven't seen or made" Hestia boasted with a smirk, now being able to stand up on her own.

"What?" Hephaestus said in a low tone. There was no way that Hestia was referring to a sentient weapon. The only ways she could of it being plausible was some sort of possession or herself making it using arcanum, "What do you mean by a sword that can talk?"

"Well, he can talk and think on his own. Though it would have been better if he didn't have such an attitude" Hestia explained, grumbling the last part

Now Hephaestus was more curious, she needed to see it for herself. As far fetched as it sounded, she knew Hestia wouldn't lie about something like this. If the sword was sentient, then she must examine it to figure out how it works and if she could replicate it. It may even bring new ideas for future weapon designs for her children.

"Hestia, I'm going to make you a proposal. I want you to bring that sword here so I can see it for myself. It has caught my interest and I want to examine it" she offered.

"I don't know, he might not agree to come with me"

"If you do so and it manages to impress me enough, I'll consider lowering the price for the weapon you want me to make" Hephaestus added like an afterthought. Though the truth was, it was just a simple business trick to entice people into accepting offers. It seemed to have worked out as Hestia's eyes began sparkling for a moment.

"I'll do my best to convince, I'll even drag him here by force if I have to!" She said with a determined shout.

"Good, now let's get back on topic. You'll be helping me make this weapon, so prepare for a long night" Hephaestus said with a grin. Walking to a cabinet filled with tools, she pulled one of them and the cabinet swung open to reveal a forge. The two goddesses walked inside before closing the secret cabinet behind them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, I would like to address some reviews. To Dragon, thank you for the words of encouragement and advice. It's greatly appreciated and please leave reviews on any more things you think I should improve on. To TheBeatles211, I'm considering whether I should add those characters in. I initially was just planning on having only Sonic and Caliburn, but I may add an additional character if you all want. The thing about the behemoth and Excalibur Sonic might just be a side story to the main one. To MangaHero 18, That is what I'm aiming for in this fanfic. I'm trying to keep Sonic's personality the same and not change it. Finally, a final thanks to everyone how like the story, it's nice to make stories that you all enjoy. So let's get back to the story.**

"Wait...up! I...can't run...as fast as...you!" Bell panted as he struggled to keep on running. After they had finished their spar, Sonic suggested that they go for a run. He said that he would also have to work on his speed as well as his strength for training. While at first Bell thought it would have been a simple exercise, he was horribly proven wrong the moment Sonic dashed off. The blue hedgehog was sprinting through the streets with extreme quickness and ease, and he was expected to keep up with him.

"C'mon Bell! You said it yourself that you're best stat was speed, so step it up!" Sonic shouted from up ahead. They had been running for nearly thirty minutes and he didn't look remotely tired. He still kept up his fast pace even when they looked around their section if they city a few times. Bell was ready to collapse and fall asleep on the spot, he would've even preferred being knocked down with their than do this.

""How...is he...so fast?" Bell groaned to himself as he continued with this torture.

"Sir Sonic is just naturally fast. His speed is something else, it even surprises me sometimes" Caliburn answered from behind him. Before they started, the sword decided to make the exercise as grueling as possible, so he had himself be carried by Bell the entire time. So not only did he have to run a lot, he had to do it with a surprisingly heavy sword on his back.

"I...hate...both of you" Bell wearily said before stumbling and face planting into the ground. Even though his face was in pain at the moment, he groaned in relief from his sore yet slowly recovering legs.

"You okay dude? I'm sure that kissing the ground that hard must have been unpleasant" Sonic asked, apparently noticing his teammate collapsing and dashing back to check on him. He himself knew that a broken nose was one of the worst feelings, besides crashing into a wall at full speed.

"...I'm not getting back up" Bell said, not making any effort to pick himself back up.

"You shouldn't complain, Knave. Training is training only when it's difficult. Though, I will admit that you do last longer than I expected. A weaker man would have given up long before" Caliburn said while lifting himself off his back and floating right next to Sonic.

"I agree, you should be proud you lasted that long. I'm sure you're agility is going to shoot up when you Hestia updates your status" Sonic said. He grabbed Bell's arm and tried pulling him up. Because he still was refusing to move, the best they could do was get him in a sitting position. Bell was still panting a little, but he was slowly getting his breath under control.

"Are we..going to do this again?" He asked.

"Yep, everyday after we finished fighting, though we'll make them shorter than this one" In response, Bell threw his head back and groaned. While he did say that he wanted to be stronger, he never knew it was going to be this extreme. He was going to be killed on day by either the dungeon or this torture called training. But he was at least determined to continue doing this, he would do it if it meant that he could get closer to her.

"Hey, you two! I nyeed a favor" a girl asked from right next to them. They looked and saw that it was one of the waitresses at the tavern, considering she was wearing the same uniform that Syr does. She was actually a cat person, with light brown cat ears and a tail wiggling behind her.

"Oh, how can we help you?" Bell asked. The girl went inside the tavern for a little and came back with a small purse before dropping it into Sonic's hand.

"I nyeed you to take this to Syr'nya, because she screwed up when she left work''nya" The girl explained. The three of them could only stare at her in confusion as they tried to understand what she just said.

"I'm sorry, but can you explain that again, only clearer this time" Sonic asked.

"Anya, you need to speak clearer if you want Mr. Cranel and Mr. Sonic to understand" a new girl said while walking out next to them. She had pale green hair and blue eyes, along with a pair of elf ears that pointed out, "Syr took time off work so she could go to MonsterPhilia. As you can see, she forgot her wallet and is probably worrying about it"

"Oh, we just have to find her and giver back her purse? That's easy, we'll get it to her in no time!" Sonic said with a grin.

"I'm sorry, but what's monsterphilia?" Bell asked with an confused expression.

"You don't know? I guess you wouldn't if you just arrived here. MonsterPhilia is a large festival that's held every year, everyone looks forward to each one. The main attraction is held at the coliseum where adventurers tame monsters in front of crowds, but the entire city takes part with local street vendors" the elf explained with a stoic expression.

"That's sound pretty cool, we should see it after we give Syr her purse! Well, we'll see you some other time, Anya and…"

"Ryu"

"Ryu! We'll make to find Syr and give it back! Let's go Bell!" Sonic finished before dashing off with Caliburn next to him. Bell let out a tortured groan and waved them goodbye before jogging after the hedgehog. The two waitresses stared as their figures soon disappeared among the crowd and walked back inside the tavern to continue their work.

…

In a random cafe along the streets of Orario, you normally would have had a group of customers that minded to themselves and focused on their food so they could enjoy it. But with in this one, practically no one was paying attention to the food sitting right in front of them. All of their eyes fell on one person who was sitting down at the table right next to the large window that overlooked the street. The person was wearing a simple cloak with a hood, hiding their appearance from the rest of the world. This seemed to have no effect as everyone was drawn to the mystifying aura that the mysterious person was giving off. With every movement, the patrons seemed to hold their breaths in anticipation. A thick silence consumed the room entirely until…

"Hey Freya! Sorry if I took too long" a loud voice apologized as it neared the table. Nearly everyone was caught by surprised as they were too distracted to notice them. The group of two which consisted of the Goddess Loki and the Sword Princess made their way over to the table, the goddess taking the other seat while the adventurer stood behind her.

"It not a problem. What's important is that you came" Freya said with a smile.

"Yeah, Yeah. So, what do ya want and what does it have to do with me?" Loki asked impatiently. The goddess of beauty didn't answer immediately and decided to stare at the trickster goddess. Loki responded with a glare of her own and they quickly were caught in a glaring match. Crimson and violet eyes stared at each other with unnatural threat and power to them. While no words were spoken, the tension in the room increased to dangerous amounts. Most of the patrons held their breaths as they stared at the silent battle. The only that didn't seem that affected was Aiz, but even she was starting to be on edge and ready to act if things took a wrong turn.

After about a minute of this, Loki relaxed and let out a sigh. It became obvious what she was planning as she said, "It's a guy, isn't it?" Freya still kept up her small smile and that was all the confirmation she needed. Practically every god and goddess in Orario knew about Freya's habit of searching for men. Once she finds someone that catches her interest, she would do everything to make them hers and they couldn't do anything about it. It didn't matter if that person was in a familia or not, Freya would get what she wanted one way or another. The only familia that was safe was Loki's familia, due to the fact they they are the only familia that could take on her own.

"So, some guy in another familia caught your eye and you want him? Is he young or old?"

"Loki, even I have standards" Freya responded while acting offended.

"You would go after any guy you like, even some gods" Loki argued back with a deadpan expression.

"They have their uses, helps me get things" she admitted without any shame. The straightforwardness of her answer made Loki groan in annoyance.

"Forget it, can you at least tell me something about this guy?"

"...He's weak, especially when compared to our children. Cries easily and can barely fight" Freya said while looking out the window, "But he's cute. And he has a unique soul, a color which I have never seen" Despite having her divine powers sealed, she still had a special ability she could use. Her eyes allowed her to see the souls of people. Souls varied in different colors and intensity, which shows that person's potential. It was the reason she had such a powerful familia, she could recruit adventurers that had powerful souls. It was how she found her current target, an ordinary person with a unique soul. His soul was completely transparent, which tempted her to get him before anyone else did. Even if he was in a different familia, she will get him one and she needed Loki to play nice for her plan.

As she was staring out the window, a flash of blue caught her attention. It was a short animal person that had more animal features with blue fur covering his face and long quills hanging back. She was surprised to see it as their was no species she has seen before that had more animal traits. What made him more interesting was that his soul was shining with a bright radiance, similar to the Sword Princess in front of her. That person would definitely be the next target on her list. It was a lucky thing that she was still looking, because what came next almost made her gasp. A tall boy with white hair and red eyes was chasing after the animal person. What were the odds that she not only find a new soul she wanted, but also ran into the same boy she was going after? Standing up from her seat, she took Loki by surprise who wasn't expecting her to leave this quickly.

"Huh? Where ya going now?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry Loki, but something has come up. We'll talk again soon, so excuse me" Freya said before quickly walking out of the cafe. Loki was still staring at the retreating goddess in confusion as she tried processing what had happened. They had barely talked at all and she was already rushing off somewhere. All she knew was that Freya was searching for some guy and that she should just let her do what she wanted.

"Great, this whole thing was just a waste of time. Though that means we can go on our date!" Loki cheered as she turned to her child, only to see her looking out the window with a contemplative expression, "Aiz, you alright?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing" she quietly responded. She tried to slip back to her default expression, but her mind was whirling around. While she was glancing out the window, she spotted the same blue animal person from the tavern running by. She didn't recognize what species he was, but he had to have been a first class adventurer if he could move that fast. The problem was that he wasn't known at all like most powerful adventurers, so it was a mystery what level he truly was. Following behind him was the other boy in the tavern, the same one that she had saved from the minotaur. She never got to apologized for making him run away, it was something she would do when she runs into him. If he's with the animal person, they must have been in the same familia.

"Well if you're done looking, we have a date to go on!" Loki shouted excitedly while dragging Aiz behind her. The boy would come later, now she had to deal with her goddess.

…

"This is harder than I thought it would be" Sonic sighed as he looked around. The three of them had been searching around for Syr for nearly half an hour, but they haven't gotten any closer in finding her. The huge crowd of people made it near impossible to traverse through and even harder to spot someone. Right now, they were standing in a spot between two vendors where people weren't crowding in.

"I agree, this situation truly emphasizes the expression 'finding a needle in a haystack'" Caliburn grumbled. He had nearly gotten separated several times from the large amount of people.

"At this rate, it's going to take all day to find her" Bell sighed as he scratched his head.

"Hey guys!" A voice called from right next to them. They turned and saw that it was actually Hestia. She was wearing her normal clothes, but there was a purple sash tied around her.

"Goddess?! I didn't know you would be here?" Bell said in surprise. He was expecting her to come back today or tomorrow, but what were the odds of meeting her in such a crowded place.

"But of course, we must share a special bond to be able to meet like this" she said with a wink.

_Seriously, a special bond?_, Caliburb thought with a deadpanned expression. That was just a coincidence and she was over exaggerating. Sonic on the other hand was worried about being another Amy as she somehow always knew where he was.

"Let's go on a date!" Without any warning, Hestia grabbed Bell's wrist and began pulling him along.

"What?! But goddess, we need to find someone here!" Bell argued. Before he could say anything else, he felt something be snatched out of his pocket. He turned around and saw Sonic was tossing the purse up and down.

"Don't worry Bell, we can handle finding Syr. We'll return her purse while you enjoy your little date" he said with a smirk before dashing off in the other direction with Caliburn following behind him.

"Traitors!" Bell yelled back as Hestia pulled him along further. He knew without a doubt that the only reason they did that was for his humiliation, he even saw Caliburn smirking as the two left. They left him with no choice but to go with Hestia. There wasn't anything wrong with spending time with the goddess, it's just that he wasn't used to doing things like this. By then, Hestia had dragged him to a good vendor and ordered two crepes. After they got them, they found an empty spot in front of the coliseum.

"This is so good! You should try it Bell!" Hestia excitedly cheered while holding out her crepe.

"But goddess, I can't just take food from you. Here, have mine instead" he refused while holding out. Hestia easily relented as she leaned forward and took a large bite. As Bell watched her chew with a child like expression, he noticed that a little bit of the cream had gotten on her face.

"Goddess, you got a little bit of food here" he pointed out while tapping his cheek.

"Oh silly me, can you get that for me?" She asked while hiding her grin. This opportunity was perfect and she wasn't going to let it go. Bell blushed a little bit, but then quickly swiped off the cream before cleaning his finger with a napkin. Though it wasn't as romantic as she hoped it would be, Hestia still giggled happily. They soon finished and began walking around the streets looking at different things. Along with food stalls, there were vendors selling small trinkets and monster figurines. People were walking around checking out the different stalls and talking with each other with happy smiles on their faces. It was obvious how much the people loved this festival.

"Wow, I never knew people would get this excited over a festival. The ones at my village don't even compare to this" Bell pondered as he looked around.

"Well of course, Orario is a large city compared to a small village. Any celebration is bound to be bigger" Hestia said while chewing into her kebab, "Oh yeah, I just remembered. You said you were trying to find someone with Sonic and Caliburn, who was it?"

"It was a friend of ours. She worked at a tavern and one of the waitresses asked us to deliver her purse since she forgot it" Bell explained. That was what he was supposed to be doing, but the two of them deserted him so he would be forced to go on the 'date'. Right afterwards, Hestia was looking at him with a look of both suspicion and teasing.

"Oh, so it's a girl you're looking for? You're such a player Bell" she said in a teasing tone.

"Goddess, it's not like that and you know it" he sighed. Before he could further refute her claim, they heard a loud crash behind them followed by a deafening chorus of screams. They whipped their heads around and searched around for the cause of the disturbance. Their answer quickly appeared in the form a huge albino gorilla with broken chains and restraints hanging off its limbs.

"RUN! ITS A MONSTER!" A man yelled as he and everyone else in their area fled for their lives away from the monster rampaging around.

"What the?! How is there a monster on the surface?!" Bell yelled in shock as he began to back away. Even though he has never seen it before, he instantly recognized it from one of Eina's teaching sessions. The monster was known as a Silverback, a strong monster that appears around floor ten. Of all the monsters in the upper floors, this was one of the strongest.

"The monster taming! The Ganesha familia keeps the monsters in cages below the coliseum, this one must have escaped somehow!" The Silverback paused its rampage for a moment and seemed to sniff the air, almost as if it was looking for something. Then to the two's horror, the monster's red eyes fell on them.

"Uh, Bell? Why is that monster looking at us?" Hestia asked nervously. Bell didn't exactly have an answer, but he sure did know what he had to do next. Grabbing her wrist, he began to run away in the opposite direction as fast as they could. The Silverback roared and began to follow them in pursuit.

**Meanwhile…**

"Wow, the food here is great!" Sonic exclaimed as he chomped down on the closest thing this world has to a chili dog, ground beef in a sandwich with chili spread on the inside. While it may not have been as good as the original, it was enough to satisfy him.

"Can you focus less in your food and more on the task at hand?" Caliburn sighed in annoyance. After they had 'abandoned' Bell to Hestia, they were once again searching the streets for any signs of the gray hair waitress.

"Well I'm sorry, This is the closest thing to a chili dog and I was not going to lose that opportunity" Sonic retorted with a glare.

"Forget your blasted chili dog! Our mission is to find the waitress and return her purse! It is your fault for being sidetracked by all the food stalls!" Caliburn yelled.

"You're just jealous that you can't eat anything"

"Excuse me?! Are you accusing me of being jealous of you?! Preposterous, I am perfectly content with who I am and your childish comments will not change that!"

"Sure, sure" Sonic brushed off dismissively. As the two had just finished their arguing, they noticed that more people were starting to move in the direction they were coming from in a hurry. Judging from how quickly they were running and their terrified expressions instantly alerted them that something was wrong.

"What's going on? Something up ahead must be causing everyone to flee in panic" Caliburn notes as he struggled a little to not get carried away in the crowd.

"Yeah, let's go check it out" Sonic said before grabbing the sword and started pushing against the wave of people. As they got further, the amount of people began to thin out due to most of them already had gotten past them. The deafening shouts of people were replaced by an eerie silence, and then the sound of fighting started to become louder. The two of them rounded a corner and stumbled upon a group of people in masks fighting against a large bear like creature with red eyes.

"Is that a monster?! What on earth is it doing here instead of the dungeon?!" Caliburn exclaimed incredulously.

"Questions later, that thing needs to be taken down quick!" Sonic shouted as he dashed forward. Leaping over the group of adventurers, he curled himself into a ball and spun fast while holding Caliburn in front of him to turn himself into a literal buzzsaw. The monster was easily split in half and disappeared in a large puff of ash as he landed on the ground.

"Thank the gods you showed up, we weren't sure if we could handle it" One of the adventurers sighed in relief as they relaxed.

"Don't worry about it, just tell me what's happening"

"Right, most of the monsters captured for the festival were set free by someone and they're scattered around the city. We've requested help from different familias, but we aren't killing them fast enough" The person explained.

"So there's more of them in the city? This could be dangerous for the citizens who can't defend themselves" Caliburn whispered.

"You're right, but what about Bell and Hestia? They could be in trouble as well" Sonic whispered back with worry lacing his tone.

"The safety of the people is more important. Besides, the Knave should be strong enough to defend himself and the goddess should they run into a monster"

"If you say so" Sonic muttered before turning back to the adventurers, "Take care of the area around here. I'll go and take out any monster I come across" Before they could even respond, he turned around and dashed off at blistering speeds. He sprinted through numerous streets slashing through any monsters he came across. Large green bugs, antelopes with sharp antlers, they all became bisected by what people only saw as a blue blue that would be there one moment and several streets down the next. Soon, Sonic decided to move to higher ground as he easily scaled up one of the buildings and resumed running along the rooftops. Despite the dire situation, he was honestly having the time of his life. The rushing winds pressing against his face, the pounding of his feet hitting the ground, and the rush of adrenaline of moving around faster than the eye could see. This was why he loved running so much, the feeling of being free made him happy and at ease. While he was thinking about that while preparing to slash a pair of kobolds in the street below, someone else got their earlier than him and quickly killed them before dashing off.

_Huh, didn't know she was that fast_, Sonic though curiously as he changed directions. Even though most people hardly saw anything, he was easily able to see who the person was. It was Aiz Wallenstein, the girl Bell had a crush on and what people called the Sword Princess, a level five adventurer who was famous for leveling up in a year. When she was moving, there was a veil of visible wind surrounding her and he assumed that was what made her that fast. While he did admit she was quite fast, it was not much compared to his top speed.

"So that's the strength of a so called first class adventurer" Caliburn noted as they slashed through another bug monster.

"Yeah, but I'm sure I could put up a fight against her"

"Whether you can fight her is a discussion for another time. How many monsters do you think are left?"

"Well, considering how quickly we're killing them and how little we're running into, I think there should barely be any" Sonic said while skidding to a stop. He and the Sword Princess should have taken out most of them, and the other adventurers should take care of any stragglers that managed to escape. Considering that it's barely been five minutes since they started, there shouldn't have been that many people injured. He should probably find Bell and Hestia to see if they were alright and Syr to also finally return her purse. Just as he was about to leave, a large cloud of dust erupted from one of the open areas in the distance and some faint screeching was heard.

"I can't catch a break, can I?" Sonic mused before running in the direction of the commotion. It didn't even take him a minute for him to get there and observe what was happening. The first thing that stuck out were the three huge flower creatures that looked like Venus flytraps but with actual teeth that sprouted up from the ground. Along with a plethora of vines surrounding them, they were flailing around haphazardly to try and shake off the people on them. Two women who he recently learned were called amazons were fighting against the tangle of bones and trying to reach the flower monster. The other thing he noticed was that the Sword Princess was already there and had just lunged forward to attack one of them. When it made contact, the two struggled for a bit before the blade she was using decided that now was the perfect moment to break into several pieces.

"Oh no, he's going to get mad again" she whispered to herself with a slightly worried tone. Regardless of how powerful any monster was, none could be as scary as Goibniu when she broke a weapon. Adjusting her body, she weaves through the monsters as they tried attacking her.

"Aiz, get rid of your wind! These monsters can detect magic!" The Amazon with the red clothes, Tiona, yelled as she and her sister struggled against the vines. Aiz simply have an affirmative nod as she leapt backwards against the body of one of the monsters. Right as she was about to dispel her magic, she spotted something from the corner of her eye. Behind one of the stands was a small girl that was cowering behind it. If the monsters started to attack indiscriminately, the girl could get seriously injured or worse. With that in mind, she decided to lure them away by keeping her spell up as she landed on one of the stands and quickly jumped back up. However, that turned out to be a bad move as she was practically a sitting duck in mid air for one of the monsters to lunge at her with its jaws wide open. She braced herself for the undoubtedly painful experience, but it never came as a flash of blue entered her vision and the monster was sliced right down the middle. Looking down, she saw that the culprit was the same blue hedgehog that she not only saw at the tavern a few nights ago, but also this day as he ran through the streets. Questions ran through her mind like how did he get here so fast, how he was able to kill that monster easily, and where was the other boy that was with him.

"Huh, these guys are way stronger than they look" Sonic noted as he quickly glanced at the remaining two. The one he slashed actually put up some resistance to being cut, but using a little more effort was all it took for him to slice through it like butter. All that was left were those two and they should be pretty easy to beat. Leaping forward, he spun around and slashed off the head of the flower with more ease than the last one. The monster's decapitated head practically popped off and exploded into ash right before it hit the ground. Sonic turned around to finish off the last one, only to find it was right behind him trying to bite him. He quickly stepped to the side as the monster rushed past him and chomped on nothing but air. Sonic decided to finish this one differently as he placed Caliburn down and curled into a ball then began revving up. Charging for no more than two seconds, he spin dashed forward and rammed into the side of the monster before it could move out of the way. The area of impact crumpled in on itself slightly as Sonic bounced off it into the air. It felt like he just ran into some hard metal instead of an organic creature, but he was hardly dazed as he already had plenty of experience dong so. Before the monster could turn around to attack, Sonic locked onto its head and boosted forward with his Homing Attack. He slammed into its head and drove it deep into the ground, crushing it into a pasty mess before it disappeared as well. Sonic jumped backwards and did a few backflips for style points before landing right next to Caliburn.

"Are you done showing off?" Caliburn asked with a deadpanned expression.

"Say what you want, even you have to admit how awesome that was" Sonic replied with a smug grin.

"I still question to this day how you are the true King Arthur" The sword muttered in annoyance. The king of Camelot was a reckless, hyperactive, and acts incredibly foolish. What did he do to deserve this.

Meanwhile, the four members of the Loki familia were staring at the hedgehog with complete shock and confusion. The same monsters that they were struggling against and nearly killed Lefiya were defeated in a matter of seconds by some unknown adventurer. All adventurers know about the strong adventurers as they get more famous the stronger they get. He should be around level four or five from how easily he took them down, but they haven't heard of an adventurer like him before. While continuing his conversation with Caliburn, Sonic noticed that they were staring at him.

"Oh, are you guys alright? I hope those monsters didn't give you too much trouble" he asked.

"No, just Lefiya got hurt pretty bad. Though who are you? Better yet, what are you even?" Tione asked while brushing herself off while Aiz walked up next to her. Tiona had ran back to check on Lefiya and make sure she was alright.

"Just call me Sonic, I'm from out of Orario that's why there isn't many like me here"

"Well, thank you for helping us" Aiz said while bowing.

"It's no problem, I would've done it anyway" Sonic said. As he was saying that, he then noticed that the other Amazon was helping an orange hair elf walk to them, most likely injured from her limp and the blood around her mouth, "Woah, that doesn't look good. Is she alright, she looks like she took a beating"

"It's *cough* fine, they just knocked me away. I just need to rest a little" Lefiya brushed off while slightly coughing.

"Lefiya, you should take it easy for a bit. Those things hit pretty hard and they almost killed you. But still, thanks for the save mister" The Amazon, Tiona said with a grin.

"Hey girls, things got pretty wild here, didn't they!" Before Sonic could respond, Loki shouted over him while walking over to them. She was holding the hand of the same girl hiding behind the stand in one hand and carried a sheathed blade in the other. Once she got close, she tossed the blade to Aiz who easily caught it.

"Loki, when did you get here?" Tione asked in confusion.

"Got here halfway through, found this girl hiding and picked up a sword when I saw Aiz broke hers. I thought you would be still fighting those things, but he showed up out of nowhere and killed em like it was nothing" Loki explained while pointing at Sonic, "Speaking of which, how did you do that?"

"It wasn't anything special, just a little attacking and a little dodging was all you need to snip those daisies" he said with a shrug, "Anyway, I got places to be so I'll see you later!" With that and a wave, he ran away in search of his familia. The Loki familia were watching his retreating back with looks of curiosity, confusion, and a little suspicion.

"Okay girls, we still have business to take care of. Aiz, keep searching around for monsters. Tiona and Tione, sorry for making you do this but can you check the sewers just in case there are more of those things. Lefiya, take it easy and go see a medic. We don't want you collapsing on us out of nowhere. I'm going to help this little fella find her parents" Loki directed. The four girls nodded and promptly went off to complete their objectives. Loki was right about to leave herself, but she casted one last glance to where Sonic had ran off.

_Who is that guy? How did someone that strong go unnoticed for so long? Whatever the case, I need to keep my eye on him_, she thought to herself before walking away while gently leading the young girl.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the wait, school had me pretty busy. Well, it looks like all of you want Tails and Knuckles to make an appearance, judging from all the reviews. I actually am on board with that idea and will put them in later in the story. For now, send ideas of when you want them to show up and some scenarios they should be in. And also, it was brought up that the goddesses can detect lies and to that I say I completely forgot about that. It wasn't really something brought up so it slipped my mind. To clear that up, Sonic didn't technically tell a lie to Hestia and Bell spoke up before Miach could even call out the lie. Anyways, Thanks for the support and enjoy the chapter!**

"Man, who would have thought so much would have happened in one day. I thought that all we had to do was give someone their purse back, but some monsters decided to go and mess up everything" Sonic grumbled as he let out a yawn. Right now, we was sitting on the floor with Caliburn next to him and an unconscious Hestia lying down on a bed. Bell was outside talking to Syr about something he didn't know about.

After he killed those plant monsters, he dashed around the area looking for the two of them. They weren't near the coliseum or any of the busy streets with abandoned food stalls lining along the sides. It took some time before he reached a section of the city that was called Daedalus street. According to what he heard some people said, it was practically a labyrinth with some of the low income citizens of the city living there, few going so far to say that people can get lost in their if they aren't careful. That had the opposite effect on him as he eagerly charged into the district to see if the rumors were true.

It didn't take long for him to establish that it was a labyrinth with how many twists and turns he had to take through it. Thankfully, there were some people that were able to tell him about seeing a white hair boy and short black hair girl being chased by a big monster. After taking a few more twists and turn, he ran into a crowd of people that seemed to be cheering someone up ahead. All it took was a small running start and he was able to leap over the crowd with ease. On the other side was a large open space with a few noticeable things scattered around like some large metal plates, a big magic stone, and Bell and Hestia laughing while smiling.

"Looks like we missed the party. Must have been huge with so many people cheering" Sonic said with a smirk.

"Sonic, Caliburn! It's good to see both of you alright. I thought you were caught up against the monsters" Bell sighed in relief.

"It is true that we faced a few monsters, I'm more curious on what occurred here" Caliburn commented as he glanced around.

"Don't..worry. Bell did..al...right" Hestia slurred in a tired voice before slumping over and falling to the ground.

"Goddess?!Hestia?!" Both Bell and Sonic shouted as they rushed over to check on her. A quick look over showed that there wasn't any visible injuries anywhere on her body. Though it was now that they noticed that there were bags under her eyes.

"Exhaustion. She must have already been tired when we ran into her earlier and the overexertion from being chased must have been too much for her to handle" Caliburn muttered.

"We should get her back home as soon as possible" Sonic said. Bell nodded as he picked her up gently. The group than ran forward and through the crowd as fast as they could.

That was what had happened. They had ran into Syr on the way there and she offered to let Hestia rest in one of the rooms at the tavern. It has been a few hours since then and she still hadn't woken back up. Bell told them what happened to them since they split up, but they have been sitting in silence for the majority of the time.

"It is rather unfortunate, but the best we could've done was prevent as much damage from being done. Though the incident did seem a bit strange" the sword said.

"What part? The one where there were monsters everywhere or the part where there were monsters everywhere?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

"Actually, it was about the monsters being everywhere. Do you remember what that man said after defeating that beat monster? He said that someone had freed the monsters"

"Yeah, it looks like someone here decided to be a villain and let the monsters loose. I'm not really worried about monsters as they can be killed easily, but I want to know why the person did it" Sonic muttered with a contemplative expression.

"The assailant could have been aiming to cause mayhem or a distraction to complete another goal. Unfortunately, we do not have any clue of anything"

"You're right about that, there isn't much we can do about this. So long as they don't make another move like this, we should be careful and wait for the chance to catch them" Sonic reassured.

"If you say so" Caliburn mumbled quietly.

"Bellll" a voice drawled out from the bed. The two of them glanced towards the bed and saw that Hestia was waving her arm around like she was trying to get someone's attention. Almost immediately, the door opened and Bell walked in towards the goddess.

"Goddess, are you feeling alright?" he asked with a worried tone as he knelt at the bedside. The other two were on the other side and looked less worried than him, but some concern was still there.

"I'm *yawn* alright, just a little tired. All that running really tired me out" she replied with a small giggle.

"Goddess, you haven't experienced the horrors of running until you've tried keeping up with Sonic" Bell deadpanned while leveling a flat glare towards said hedgehog.

"Whatcha mean? That was just training!" Sonic exclaimed in mock offense. The three of them burst into laughter while Caliburn let out a few chuckles. Despite all the craziness that happened just a few hours ago, they appeared to have easily brush it off like an amusing story to tell later.

"Anyway, it's good to see you two safe from all of this. I hope you two weren't in a situation like us" Hestia said while turning towards Sonic and Caliburn.

"To be honest, it was quite the opposite. Once we learned about the outbreak, Sir Sonic and I easily chased them down and slew them with ease. They hardly put up that much of a challenge for us" Caliburn explained with a small amount of smugness in his tone.

"Hold on, weren't some of the monsters from the middle floors? How were you able to kill them?" Bell asked in surprise and confusion. With him, he was only able to beat the Silverback thanks to the Goddess updating his status and the new weapon she gave him. Yet from what the sword was saying, Sonic breezed through them and had no trouble doing so despite being a level one like him.

"What can I say, I'm stronger than I look you know. This falna just doesn't realize how awesome I am" Sonic said with a cocky smirk.

"Don't be so full of yourself, that pride will be your end one day" Caliburn warned with a deadpan expression, "Besides that, I have a question for you Hestia, where on earth did you acquire that blade? That craftsmanship is beyond what I've seen in any of the weapon stores"

"Well, you are right about not seeing in any shops, it's a one of a kind weapon. It was made by the Hephaestus familia after all" Hestia proudly stated.

"Hephaestus Familia! Aren't their weapons expensive?!" Bell shouted in shock. At that point, the interest that Caliburn and Sonic were showing quickly turned into disbelief and mild horror. Their familia was already struggling financially even with the additional member, they didn't want to have no money to buy food if Hestia put them into debt.

"Don't worry, I struck a deal with them. We don't have to worry about having no money. Besides, I wanted to do this for you" Hestia reassured them, "You have done so much for me ever since you joined my familia. Meanwhile, I barely gave you anything back in return. I wanted to do something to show you that I can help you. It's my duty as your goddess after all"

As she was talking, tears had slowly began to form in Bell's eyes. He never realized that she thought that she hadn't done anything for him. From how he saw it, she gave him so much for allowing to join her familia and he was trying to do everything to pay her back for it. Realizing now that she did all of that for his sake, he couldn't stop himself from crying"

"T-thank you. T-thank you s-so much!" He cried as he hugged her. His sobs practically echoed across the room as he continued crying. Hestia returned the hug and began to soothingly stroke his back to comfort him.

"Huh, that happened" Sonic said to himself, letting out a small smile for them. It was nice to see how close the two were, reminding him about his friends. They always were willing to help each other if any of them needed it. That memory just solidified his goal of finding a way back home even more. If he somehow was able to talk to that Joker person, he might learn more about why he came here and how to get back. But until then, he didn't mind experiencing all the things this world has to offer.

"Hugs and kisses aside, how much did that weapon cost? Even if she claims it won't affect us, someone has to pay it back and it is going to take a lot to do so" Caliburn muttered, quiet enough so the other two didn't hear and ruin the mood.

"I'm sure Hestia has a way of paying them back. Let's just hope that it doesn't affect her too much"

"By the way, can I ask you a favor Caliburn?" Hestia asked after about two minutes of calming Bell down, "I told my friend Hephaestus about you and she wants to see you for herself. Is it alright if we visit her to let her see you?"

"You seriously told a blacksmith about a talking sword and didn't expect them to be curious? I should just decline for that reason alone, but even I am curious about how a goddess of the forge evaluates me. So I suppose I will accept her request" the sword sighed.

"Perfect, I have time after tomorrow, so we can go then. Let's get some sleep, you boys look exhausted" Hestia said. After a little more talking, they all got into comfortable spot and drifted off to sleep

…

Upon opening his eyes, Sonic found himself back in the white void from a few nights back. Nothing had changed, the same chairs, the same table, the same faceless person sitting across from him.

"_Hello again, Sonic_" Joker echoed with a small wave, "_It's a pleasure to see you again_"

"_It's great to see you too, Joker. So you decided to bring me back here after rudely cutting our last conversation short?_" Sonic said with palpable sarcasm.

"_Why yes, you and the sword have grown accustomed enough to your new environment that I felt another talk was necessary. I will answer some questions that you undoubtedly have, so ask away"_

"_Okay, tell me who you are exactly? You said you were the one to bring us here and I was wondering how you did it"_ Sonic asked.

"_Simple, I have been given the name 'Joker' by the many beings that I have interacted, as I stated in our previous conversation. As for what I am, I would describe myself as a being who exists between worlds, dimensions, even realities. I can bridge the gaps between these different worlds and send individuals such as yourself to new locations" _Joker explained as he made a glass of wine appear out of nowhere. Despite having no mouth, he brought the glass up to his face and the liquid seemed to drain into his face.

"_So what you're saying is, you're a god that can send people to different worlds"_

"_That and some additional things, I believe you have already encountered a being similar to me. Solaris was a being that had control over time while I have space, but you don't remember a thing about that when you extinguished the flame. Getting back on track, what other questions do you have?"_

Ignoring his mention of some being named Solaris and him not remembering it, Sonic asked his next question, "_Why did you bring me to this world? Do I have some purpose here, because then you should just tell me now so I can complete it and get back home"_

"_Actually, there isn't a specific reason why I brought you and the sword here_" Joker answered casually, chuckling at the look of disbelief on the hedgehog's face, "_Most of the time, I often do this for my entertainment. It's always a delight seeing people try and adapt to a foreign place that none of their previous knowledge applies there. In your case, you have already experienced traveling to different worlds so I thought that seeing another would be amusing"_

"_Are you kidding me?! You brought me here without asking me just so you can have some fun?!" _Sonic shouted in anger and disbelief. It's already been a week since he arrived there and thought that he had to stop some threat so he could get back home. But as it turns out, this bastard decided to do it because he was bored. Eggman could have been making another attempt to take over the world and he wasn't there to stop him. His friends must have been worried about where he disappeared to, especially Tails and Amy. He was about to get up and teach this Joker a lesson when he found that he couldn't stand up. No matter how much his brain willed him to lunge forward, his body remained grounded to the seat.

"_Getting angry isn't going to help you in the slightest. I already plan to send you back after some time so it's not like you're going to be stuck here. Besides, time tends to move faster in different worlds so a few weeks here would just be a couple of days for your friends. Just calm yourself and try to be civil" _Joker said with an even tone, not at all affected by his outburst. Sonic reluctantly stopped trying to leap from his seat and slumped into it with annoyance written all over his face.

"_Fine, but you better make sure that you'll send me back. Last question, is there anything else important I should know about? That includes this world and __**you**_" _Sonic said with a borderline snarl._

"_Not much, you can learn some basics from the locals of the world. But there is one thing, if the game gets boring, I may step in and spice things up" _Joker said before beginning to laugh. It was a good natured laugh like if your friend told you a joke, but there was a dangerous edge to it which immediately put Sonic on edge. Before he could ask what he meant by that, Joker stopped and snapped his fingers, once again returning the hedgehog to complete darkness.

When Sonic woke up, it took a lot of effort not to yell in frustration and punch the wall. The only reason he was even here was to satisfy that asshole's boredom. To Joker, this was just some sick game that he probably decided to do on a whim. It took a few seconds of controlling his breath and clenching his fists to calm down to a level where he wouldn't destroy something.

_At least he said that he'll send me back_, he thought with a sigh of relief. Joker could've just left him here with no way back and no intention of doing so himself. All he could do now was wait until he decided to send him back. It wouldn't be that bad with his friends like Bell and Caliburn to keep company. After a few minutes of waiting, the others began to wake up with Caliburn and Bell getting up first and Hestia after a lengthy amount of time. They quickly got ready and headed downstairs where they were greeted by the pub owner.

"Took you all long enough, I'm impressed you actually slept through all the noise. For adventurers, you sure are pretty heavy sleepers" Mia said as she was cleaning a plate.

"Yeah, but thank you so much for letting us stay here for the night. Here, this should cover our cost for the room" Bell bowed before taking out a pouch of valis and reached forward to give it to her. Before he could, she pushed his hand away and shook her head.

"It's fine, you don't have to pay us a single valis. We were just helping you out when you needed help, so paying is unnecessary. Just make sure to spend extra the next time you come over for a meal"

"And just when I thought you were about to do something completely selfless. You always have ways of getting people to spend more money" Sonic chuckled with a smirk. For the few times he has interacted with her, it became glaringly obvious that she was all about making money. Whether it would be with the high prices and the manipulative nature of the waitresses like Syr, the woman has made a system here to make the most money possible.

"You sure got that right, so make sure you survive down in the dungeon. We can't take your money if you die down there!" Mia laughed while shamelessly admitting that he was spot on. After saying goodbye to the other staff and Bell getting another boxed lunch from Syr like he did every morning, the group went in separate directions with the boys going to the dungeon and Hestia going to work.

…

"You went to floor eight?! Are you trying to get yourselves killed?!" Eina practically screamed across the counter. She caught the attention of every person around her and several even backed away in fear of getting caught in her wrath.

"You don't need to scream so loud. It wasn't like we were in the middle floors, all we did was just one floor lower to check it out" Sonic grumbled while rubbing his poor ears who were recovering from the assault that was her screeching.

They had just came back from the dungeon and did the standard reporting to Eina on what they had done. Needless to say, she wasn't pleased to hear that they had ventured down to the eighth floor. The monsters on the higher floors had quickly gotten boring for both of them and they had also reached the entrance to the next floor, so it was inevitable that they got curious enough to check out the new floor. It had new monsters that provided a little more of a challenge for them, like these huge ants that came in a huge swarm after they killed a few.

"But still, you can't just do something so reckless just because you got bored! You could have been overwhelmed by a large group of Killer ants, which may I remind you are one of the main reasons rookies die in the upper floors!"

"But Miss Eina…" Bell tried to point out something but he was cut off by her pointing a finger right at his face.

"That especially goes for you! You nearly died on the fifth floor the other day and now you go to the eighth floor! Even with a partner, you shouldn't just waltz into danger without a second thought of your own safety!" Eina continued to scold while jabbing her finger repeatedly at him.

"She clearly has no clue about how reckless you are, Sir Sonic. You've done worse before and actually enjoyed doing so" Caliburn silently muttered to Sonic who chuckled a little.

"But we can handle it! Most of my stats are already at E so it should be fine" Bell said, attempting to calm down the furious adviser and stop her from forcing him into a two hour session about how not to die in the dungeon. That seemed to have done the trick as most of the rage quickly left Eina's face and was quickly replaced with surprise and disbelief.

"E? But..there's no way" she mumbled to herself before resuming a more professional expression, "I will need to verify your claim before letting you do anything else. Allow me to check your status" She then led the two of them to an empty corner of the guild where not many people could see them. Bell crouched on the ground and lifted up his shirt to reveal his back with the falna inscribed onto it. It was made up of a large picture of a flame and writing in a language that Sonic couldn't understand, though it looked like Eina could as she was glancing over it while mumbling.

"Strength is E, Endurance is E, Agility...D?!" She exclaimed in surprise. For being an adventurer that only started a few weeks ago, he somehow had stats that took months to earn, "Looks like you weren't kidding, I've never seen someone grow as quick as you are. Though what about you?"

"My agility has already hit C and the others are around the F and E range. So yeah, I think we can handle ourselves" Sonic simply replied. Of course, he was much stronger than his stats suggested, but it helped not bring too much suspicion on him. Though that suspicion would instantly be instantly be on him if anyone saw him fight seriously.

"I guess I have no choice but to clear you for floor eight. Those stats are more than enough to stop monsters from overpowering you" Eina admitted reluctantly. The two of them thought that that would be the end of it, but the look she was giving them told otherwise. She was slightly cringing at Bell's breast plate and Sonic's gauntlet, "The same can't be said for your armor though. If you're free tomorrow, I can help you shop for some better armor"

"Oh, I guess we have time. We were just planning on dungeon diving like today, so we can go with you" Bell said with a shrug as he pulled his shirt back down.

"Great, let's meet at the statue plaza first thing in the morning. Make sure you two aren't late" With that, she waved them goodbye as they traded in their magic stones and walked out of the guild.

The next morning, Sonic and Bell were idly waiting for Eina in the plaza with the statue right in the middle. Caliburn was not with them as Hestia took him early to see Hephaestus and do the evaluation thing she was talking about.

"Bell, remind me why I am here? You know that I hate nearly every form of clothing and will never put on anything related to shirts or pants" Sonic sighed as he played with his pouch of valis, tossing it up and catching it.

"Well yeah, but it would have been rude not to come after she invited us. Besides, you might actually find something you want to wear. A gauntlet doesn't give much protection" Bell deadpanned while pointing at him.

"Hey you two!" Their argument was interrupted by someone calling from right next to them. They turned in that direction and saw that it was Eina smiling at them. Instead of the uniform they were used to seeing her in, she was wearing a tan blouse and a pink skirt while also missing her pair of glasses that she always wore, "I hope you guys didn't wait too long for me"

"Nah, we just got here. Nice look by the way, more fun than the old guild uniform you always wear" Sonic said with a thumbs up. It was pretty cool to see that she wasn't all strict and actually knew how to lay back.

"Oh, um, i-it looks great! You look a lot younger" Bell stammered with a hint of a blush. That appeared to have been the wrong thing to say as Eina had a mischievous grin as she grabbed Bell and quickly put him in a headlock

"Hey, I'm not that old you know! You better apologize mister!" She laughed while giving him a noogie. Bell tried and failed to escape from her grip while Sonic was nearly on the floor laughing. It was only after a few minutes that Eina decide that he was punished enough before releasing him. Afterwards, she led the two of them through the busy streets that was packed with people. While most of them were adventurers with gear, lots of them were in normal clothing and seemed to be enjoying things like the occasional food stall and some stores. It was only after a few minutes did one of them realize where they were heading.

"Hold on, isn't this the way to Babel? I thought you were taking us to an armor store, not the dungeon" Sonic asked suspiciously as he spotted the the tower right in front of them.

"Well, you're only half right. We are going to Babel, but we are going to go to the upper floors, to the Hephaestus familia shop" Eina explained.

"Wait, What?! We can't go there, their stuff is so expensive that I can't even afford to think about shopping there!" Bell exclaimed in shock. Eina simply responded with a giggle as she grabbed the two boys by the arm and started to drag them towards the tower.

Once they were inside, they took an elevator(which surprised Sonic with how they existed here) that neither of them had noticed before and went up a few floors before coming to a stop. When the doors open, they were promptly blinded by the brightness. The entire hallway seemed to made of shiny gold walls and velvet carpets with even more shiny gears on display. Each armor was designed with beautiful patterns and sparkly jewels that shined brightly, shields seemed to be made of precious metals like silver and platinum, and weapons that looked more ornamental than practical. It was more like walking in an art gallery than a weapon shop.

"Woah! These are so cool!" Bell gushed as he pressed his face against the glass to look at the display. Unadulterated enthusiasm was literally pouring out of him, making him look like a child in a candy store.

"And so expensive" Sonic muttered with a noticeable cringe as he looked at the price tag. One of the daggers cost a ludicrous 30 million valis, more money than a single item should realistically cost, "Why did you bring us here Eina? There is no way in hell I would buy a weapon that costs as much as a large house"

"Don't worry, I just wanted to show you what the Hephaestus familia has to offer, this floor does attract the most attention" Eina giggled as she saw Bell's face pale at the price.

"Yeah, the only reason anyone would come here is to browse this art gallery of a store" As he was saying that, one of the doors opened up and someone stepped out.

"Hello, how can I help you, valued customers," the person said with a smile. The person was wearing a short red dress with a frilly white apron over it. Adorned on her raven hair was a similarly frilly headdress. What surprised the two of them the most was how the person who was wearing the uniform just happened to be the same goddess who left this morning to meet her friend. The three of them stared at each other in awkward silence as they processed the people in front of them.

"Goddess?! Bell?!" The two of them shouted in shock as they pointed at each other, "What are you doing here?! I know we need money, but you never said anything about a second job!"

"Well, I should be asking you that" Hestia muttered awkwardly while glancing to the side. Doing so caused her to notice Eina who was standing off to the side observing the scene with a confused expression, "After you tell me who that half elf is!"

As the three of them got caught in their own situation, a familiar sword floated out of the store and over to the hedgehog.

"Sir Sonic, interesting seeing you here. I never imagined you would be shopping for armor" Caliburn mused with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really, the two of them dragged me here and I didn't have much to do anyway. Besides the point, what about you? I'm curious to know what the goddess had to say about a talking sword" Sonic asked. The moment he brought it up, Caliburn couldn't help but sigh as he remembered what happened back there.

**Earlier…**

"_Wow, I still can't believe something like you actually existed. I don't think it's possible for me to recreate you without using my arcanum" Hephaestus stated in amazement as she lifted Caliburn off her anvil and placed him back on the ground._

"_Honestly, I can't believe you possess so much insight on weapons and forgery. You have my gratitude for refining my edge, I have never felt this well in ages" Caliburn thanked while looking over himself. His blade had a lustrous shine and it was sharper than it had ever been before. The best part was that there wasn't even the slightest imperfection on him, proving her skill as a goddess._

"_Consider it a bonus for how much you impressed me. I already have lots of ideas for blades that use a similar concept as you, maybe one that can communicate using flashes of color. Hestia is lucky for stumbling across your partner"_

"_I suppose so, the familia's financial state has already improved by a considerable amount since we have joined. She better sing her praises for us joining her destitute group" he said with some smugness._

"_You really do act as pompous as she claims" Hephaestus commented with a smirk, "Anyway, you really did Hestia a huge favor. You impressed me enough that I think I'll take half off her debt"_

"_I'm not surprised that was the reason she asked me to come, but you were the one to make the weapon for the Knave?"_

"_Yeah, you wouldn't believe how much she begged me to make it. She literally groveled at my desk for hours before I finally relented" she said with a few chuckles. On the other hand, Caliburn was contemplating what he just heard. While it did mean that the blade was of the highest quality, the fact that the goddess herself made it meant that the price must have been completely outrageous. It was because of this that made him somewhat nervous to ask this question._

"_If you are relieving her of half her debt,...how much does she owe for the weapon now?"_

"_100 million valis" Hephaestus replied like it was nothing._

"_100 MILLION?!"_

"So what you're saying is, Hestia basically has to work forever to pay off the weapon?" Sonic asked with a deadpan expression.

"Yes, I suppose we are lucky that Hephaestus set it up so the burden doesn't affect us or else every valis we earn would have to go into the debt" A moment of silence fell over them as they turned and watched Bell try to calm Hestia down so she would stop glaring Eina down.

"...We aren't going to tell any of this to him"

"Precisely" After all the drama calmed down, the three of them plus the sword went back to the elevator. They began to rise once again until they stopped at another floor. This time, the floor was the complete opposite of the one they were just on. Instead of being glamorous, this floor was considerably darker and made of regular stone instead. There were a lot of people crowding the floor with some looking at the gear on display and others who seemed to be selling the gear to them.

"Now, you probably think everything here is way too expensive for you" Eina asked.

"Well, Yeah" Bell replied sheepishly.

"Then I think this will change that. Let's see some of the items they're selling" she led them over to a table with a couple of spears tied together. Looking at the price tag, Bell was surprised to see that it only cost 1200 valis for one. They actually looked pretty decent for being so cheap.

"Surprised? The reason why the weapons here are cheaper are because the beginner blacksmith make them. While most of them aren't what you would consider good quality, there are some real diamonds in the rough if you know where to look. The most important part is that it gives the blacksmith feedback on how to improve and a possible repeat customer" Eina explained.

"I see, it allows rookie blacksmiths to meet with rookie adventurers and for a partnership. The adventurers have reliable weapons and the blacksmiths can improve their craft. This actually a very practical system that benefits both parties in the long term" Caliburn muttered. They then walked into a store which mainly sold armor judging from how they were everywhere. Many different kinds from basic leather vest to full suits of armor were displayed at every inch of the store.

"Hey, I'm going to see if they have anything over here" Bell said before running down one of the aisles with an excited expression.

"Bell wait!" Eina tries saying, but he had already disappeared behind one of the shelves before he could hear her. She then sighed while shaking her head with an exasperated expression, "Well there he goes, he can be so childish. So, what type of armor do want to try?"

"Sorry to say this, but I despise wearing armor. It just feels uncomfortable and slows me down too much. All I need is my gauntlet and I'm fine" Sonic said while glancing at one of the suits of armor and casting a disgusted look on it.

"Oh no mister, you aren't going to get away with that. You need actual armor to protect you, not some gauntlet to hold your sword. We're going to find you something" she scolded as she grabbed his arm and dragged him across the store. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free from her surprisingly strong grip. The next few minutes consisted of Eina picking out different types of armor and forcing them onto Sonic to wear. Each one that she got in was promptly removed and tossed aside with a 'too heavy' or 'hard to move in'. When she suggested larger pieces of armor, Sonic quickly dashed off before she had a chance to grab him again. He quickly hid behind one of the shelves at the back of the store before coming to a stop.

"Geez, why does Eina have to be so set on making sure every part of my body is covered in some form of metal. All I came here for is to help Bell get something, so why am I being dragged into this? And for the love of chaos can you shut up!" Sonic growled in annoyance, that last part being directed to Caliburn who had been laughing at him the entire.

"Well excuse me for enjoying myself. You just don't realize how amusing it to see her make you try on all that armor" Caliburn said between laughs. Sonic gave him a pointed glare and that only made him laugh even harder. He was about to march out of the store and wait for the two to finish when something shiny caught his eye. Tucked in an unassuming corner of the shop, a box that had some black metal in it slightly stood out from all the other faded colors. Sonic, somewhat curious, walked over to the box and pulled it out to see what it had. Inside the box were a pair of what almost looked like armored shoes. The front of them were made up of three segmented plates with red stripes lining the ends of each plate. The back was a single piece that was shaped like a wedge that looked sharp enough to break something, but dull enough that it wasn't basically a blade. The soles were the thickest being around half an inch thick and the bottom looked somewhat similar to his shoes. It looked like they were to be worn around someone's shoes with space to slip your foot in and straps to keep it in place.

"Woah, these look pretty cool" Sonic muttered in interest as he turned them around to observe. On the inside, the name 'Welf Crozzo' was inscribed. It must have been the person who made it. He placed them on the ground and tried slipping his feet in only to find that they actually fit him perfectly. This was odd as his feet were shaped differently than humans and yet he found something that fits him in a store made for humans. Tightening the straps, he experimented by lifting his feet and taking a few steps with them. They did have a considerable amount of weight, but it wasn't enough to hinder his movements drastically. As a final test, he dropped to his hands and shot his legs out backwards in a kick. There was definitely much more power to it than it normally would have.

"Sir Sonic, are you planning on buying that? I know the Advisor wants you to buy armor, but I don't think she meant that."

"Heh, well this is something I actually like. These bad boys are going to add some heavy firepower in my kicks. I almost feel bad for anyone that gets a face full of these, almost" Sonic said with a grin. If he wasn't able to use Caliburn at any time, his feet would be his weapon and they may just be more dangerous than any blade. A glance at the box showed the price was 2100 valis, which was that steep of a price. Grabbing the box, he and Caliburn made their way through the store until they came across Bell and Eina talking. Bell was holding a silver breastplate that had a red line running down the side.

"Oh, hey Sonic, Caliburn! Check out this armor, I think I'm going to get this one" Bell said after noticing the two.

"That looks pretty neat. I'm sure it's going to help you a lot during our dungeon dives" Sonic notes as he also noticed a box that held amor pieces that had a similar color to the one he was holding.

"Speaking of which, why did you run away?! You were supposed to get some armor, do you want to get yourself killed in the dungeon?" Eina asked with an exasperated glare.

"I told you, armor and I don't go together. Instead, I decided to get this" he said while lifting his foot up to show them the armored soles.

"Wow, those look so cool!" Bell gushed enthusiastically.

"Why would you get that? They can't defend you, you're basically getting another weapon. I don't even think you care about your own safety" Eina sighed as she held her face in her hands.

"What are you talking about? This is Sir Sonic we are talking about, of course he wouldn't care whether anything he does is safe" Caliburn scoffed. Eina groaned loudly while the other two chuckled.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, just want to reply to the reviews you have sent. It looks like you all want to have the knights of the round table be there. While I would agree, I think it would be difficult to make their own personalities without copying their counterparts. So instead, how about having Shadow, Knuckles, and Blaze themselves there and they get their counterpart's weapon, maybe add Tails as well? This might be the route I will take, but I am open to suggestions from you guys. Make sure to leave a review on what you think. Now, back to the story!**

As the sun was getting ready to set, Sonic and Bell were making their way through some of the alleys to get back home. After saying goodbye to Eina, they decided that it was late enough that they would go home.

"Don't judge me, it's not like I question your obsession with heroes! If I don't criticize what you like, then you can't criticize what I don't like" Sonic argued with a huff.

"All I'm saying is that some protective armor would be good. Why can't you just get some light armor like I did?" Bell asked.

"Because I hate clothing. Honestly, you should understand by now that I don't like wearing anything except shoes and gloves. Even Eina realized that it was a lost cause, she said so after giving you that protector" As he said that, Bell glanced down at his arm that said piece was currently attached to. It was a small green armor piece that was strapped onto his forearm. Eina had given it to him before they left, saying that it was a gift to remind him to be careful in the dungeon. She has seen many adventurers she knew die and she didn't want him to be the next. It was surprising to see how much she cared about him, it explained why she was so strict to him about being reckless.

However, all she could do with Sonic was say that he should be extra careful. There was no convincing the hedgehog to put on any form of armor so they were forced to suck it up and deal with it. Along with suggesting to get a supporter to help them pick up magic stones, that was all she could say to them.

"Even so, it wouldn't hurt to put on a single breastplate. Anything is better than what you are doing"

"Give it up Knave. Sir Sonic is by far the most stubborn person I have ever met. If he has his mind set on something, then it's near impossible to convince him otherwise" Caliburn said while looking at him with an expression that said he has gotten used to the hedgehog.

"Fine, just try not to get killed when we go to the dungeon" As they came onto a small intersection, someone small crashed into Bell from the side. All it did was cause Bell to stumble a little, but the person was knocked back and fell to the ground. Looking down, the person turned out to be a very short girl, even a little shorter than Sonic was. Adorned with short brown hair, her body was so small and thin that just grabbing her arm looked to be enough to break it.

"Who's she, and why was she running?" Sonic asked curiously while still looking at her.

"Get back here you stupid little prum!" As if to answer his question, a shout from up ahead caught their attention. Coming from the same direction the girl had came, a man was running towards them with his sword raised high to strike them. In an instant, Bell pulled out the Hestia Knife and brought it up to block the sword strike. The two struggled against each other before the man eased his attack and took a step back.

"What the hell was that?! You better start explaining why you just attacked us!" Sonic growled as he held Caliburn and pointed the tip at the man.

"I was after that prum, and I would have finished her if you idiots didn't stop me. Do you know this prum or something!" The man asked with venom lacing his tone.

"Umm, no sir. This the first we have seen her" Bell answered.

"Then why did you protect her?"

"...Because she's a girl?" He said with some confusion.

"Well, that's a stupid reason to die for" the man said as he held out his sword and looked ready to attack.

"I suggest you back off. If you want to try to hurt her, you're going to have to get through us first" Sonic replied while also taking a stance. Neither of them made a move as they glared at each other and waited for one of them to make a move.

"He is correct, I suggest that _both_ of you back off" a voice said off to the side. All three of them paused and glanced over to see who had talked. At the top of the stairs that led to the spot they were at, Ryu was glaring down at all of them with cold eyes. She was holding a paper bag with a few vegetables peeking out from the top, probably was coming back from a grocery trip. Despite her unassuming appearance, all three of them felt a chill run down their backs as they saw her eyes that promised no mercy for anyone that crossed her.

"This is no place for violence. You should be ashamed of yourselves"

"I don't know who the hell you are, but I suggest you shut your fat mouth!" The man yelled angrily.

"Silence!" Almost immediately, the man shrunk back a bit under her harsh glare, "I wouldn't want to have to put you down. I...tend to go too far" After a few moments, the man grumbled something and reluctantly walked away.

"Man, that got tense there for a moment. Thanks Ryu, you really scared him off" Sonic said with a small chuckle as he lowered Caliburn and placed him on the ground.

"It's nothing, I was returning with food for the pub. My apologies for my behavior, I try not to lose my composure like that. But back with you, why did that man attack you?" Ryu asked.

"Oh yeah, there was this prum he was chasing and she ran into us he-" Bell was starting to say while remembering the girl and had turned around to get a better look at her only to see that she wasn't there. The spot where she had fallen down a minute ago was now bare of anything.

"Huh? Where did she go? She was here a minute ago" Sonic said in confusion as he looked around.

"She must have ran off while you were having that standoff. It isn't that concerning, but that man might go after her" Caliburn suggested.

As Sonic was still looking, he sniffed the air for a moment and caught a scent. Along with his speed, his senses were much better than that of a human. He could see farther, taste better, and hear the quietest of sounds. That also meant that he could easily pick up on different scents and locate them from a distance. In addition to the three next to him, he caught the scent of a fourth that was close to where they were. He glanced over in the direction of the smell and saw a small amount of brown hair was peeking out from behind a wall. She was hardly making any sound, like she didn't want any of them to know she was there. Sonic was about to call out to her when she started to move away quickly.

"Sir Sonic, What are you looking at?" Caliburn asked. His question snapped Sonic out of his thoughts and he turned to see the three were looking at him curiously.

"...It's nothing, just staring off into space" he replied with a sheepish smile. That girl must have had a reason for hiding from them and he was going to respect it. After saying goodbye to Ryu, they continued their trip back home while making small conversation.

The next morning, the three of them woke up a bit earlier than they usually do and decided that trying to get more sleep was pointless. They equipped their new armor and walked out of the Church with Hestia still sleeping in. As they walked through the streets, it became obvious how early they had woken up. The sun had just risen a few minutes ago and a light fog had settled in the city. The streets were nearly bare with the exception of a few adventurers and some shop owners opening up early. They soon reached the plaza in front of the towering Babel where they saw a few adventurers going into the dungeon. However, it was only then did they notice that each party usually had one person that would carry an extremely large backpack. Eina mentioned before that supporters were known to carry such large bags to hold items like potions and magic stones.

"*yawn* Why does my body have to wake itself up so early? Can't I get a few more hours of sleep?" Sonic yawned while covering his mouth.

"Stop complaining, being tired is just a trivial problem. Something that small shouldn't even stop you" Caliburn scoffed.

"It's not too bad, getting up early just means we have more time to collect more magic stones and earn more money. Just bear with it for now" Bell encourages while patting him on the back. Sonic simply replied with a few grumbles and an annoyed expression.

"Excuse me? May I ask you two for your time?" A voice behind them asked. The three of them turned around and were greeted to a short girl carrying a massive backpack. Her young face made her look no older than ten with bright hazel eyes staring at them. She was wearing a white dress that covers her entire body and it had a hood which was drawn over her hair.

"Ah! Thank you for taking the time to listen to Lily's request. Lily is offering her services as a supporter to you adventurers who need help" she said with a childish voice.

"Huh, What makes you think we need help?" Bell asked with a confused expression. He was sure that they weren't looking like they didn't know what to do.

"Your backpack. Most adventurers usually don't wear backpacks when they can have supporters to do so. So I naturally assumed that you didn't have a supporter"

"Now that you mention it, it does look obvious that we don't have one" Sonic muttered to himself before turning back to her, "But better question, are you alright. That guy really wanted to kill you back there" As he said that, the three looked at him in surprise. Lily flinched a little while Bell and Caliburn looked from him to her.

"Yeah, you're right! Aren't you that prum girl from yesterday?" Bell asked after studying her face a little and recognizing her as the same girl they ran into yesterday.

"I'm sorry Mister Adventurer, but you have the wrong person. This is the first time Lily has met you. Besides, I am not a prum, I'm a Chienthrope" she said while pulling back her hood. As her brown hair was revealed, there was some additional features that definitely weren't on the girl from yesterday. Two fluffy animal ears stuck up from her mop of hair and would slightly twitch, showing their authenticity. This proved that she was in fact a chienthrope, a person with animal features such as ears and tails.

"Huh, looks like you aren't her. These look so real" Bell muttered as he leaned in to observe them. For some reason, his body decided to move his arm up and touch her ears. They were surprisingly soft and very fluffy, it actually felt nice to stroke them. Out of nowhere, something smacked the back of his head hard and he instantly brought his hands back to clutch his head in pain. Bell turned around to see Sonic right behind him with an affronted and angry expression.

"Bell, What the hell are you doing?! You can't just touch someone like that like a creep!" He hissed.

It took a few seconds for Sonic's words to register, to which horror and embarrassment quickly dawned on Bell's face when he did.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry! I don't know what came over me like that!" Bell apologized while bowing low. Lily didn't say anything at first as she was covering her ears with her hands and her face had a light blush to it.

After they had calmed down from that awkward situation and Bell fully apologized for it, the three of them decided to sit at the fountain to discuss more about hiring her. She first told them that her full name was Liliruca Arde, but said she preferred Lily. Soon, she began to advertise why they should hire her as a supporter, from telling them of all the benefits of having her to revealing that she didn't have enough money to support herself. While that would have been enough to likely convince them, the nail in the coffin was when she brought up how Bell touched her 'sensitive' parts without her permission and how he had to take responsibility. This easily made him fold in under guilt while Sonic and Caliburn simply agreed because he did.

…

"On your right!" Sonic called out as he kicked at a Killer Ant and sent it's head flying off its body.

"Thanks!" Bell yelled back as he dodged a small rabbit with a sharp horn that tried lunging at him. He used his dodge to spin around and slash the monster in half. The three had descended down to the eighth floor and have been grinding the monsters since for the past few hours. They would've gone deeper as they certainly had the strength too, but they didn't want Lily to be worried about them going down too deep.

So far, they were just finishing up the last of the monsters that had spawned around them before calling it a day. Their profits were especially going to be high when they get back now that they didn't have to stop each battle just to pick up the magic stones and drop items. The benefits of having a supporter was becoming more and more obvious as time went on.

"Good job Master Bell and Master Sonic!" Lily said as they killed the last of the monsters, "You cut up those monsters like they were nothing. Your weapons must be really amazing to do that"

"Yeah, I'm sure he would like that" Sonic muttered while glancing at Caliburn, who was looking quite smug because of the compliment. Surprisingly, Lily didn't ask many questions about him, just the normal what was he. In fact, she seemed more interested in their weapons with how much she kept looking at them. It was a little strange, but she might just be a weapon enthusiast or something.

"You did a great job as well Lily. We didn't have to focus on collecting magic stones as much as we used to" Bell said while wiping a some sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, "Though I was wondering, what familia are you in? Wouldn't it have been easier to party with your familia members"

"Lily is a member of the Soma Familia. Even so, Lily is willing to party with adventurers outside of the familia. Master Bell, Can you get the stone from that one?" Lily asked while pointing towards the wall. A killer ant was sticking out of it with its head loosely dangling from the neck. It's magic stone was barely visible, still stuck in the neck. Bell nodded as he grabbed a small knife from Lily and walked over to the monster.

"While you guys do that, I'll go make sure our route back is clear" Sonic said before jogging back the way they came. It was only because they two of them were too busy that they didn't notice how Lily was staring at Bell's weapon with such intent.

…

"So, you already hired a supporter?" Eina sighed. She had already gathered a list of supporters that wanted to be hire and seemed to be trustworthy enough for her two clients, but it seemed that they already did so.

"Sorry, she offered to join us this morning and she did a good job with collecting magic stones and drop items" Bell said with a sheepish laugh. After they had left the dungeon and split off from Lily, the two of them decided to tell Eina about their recent decision. It was surprising to hear that she had searched up a list of supporters for them to hire and it made them, Bell mostly, feel guilty.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad to see that you found yourselves a supporter that you trust. It's just that...the fact she's in the Soma Familia does worry me"

"Huh, what's so bad about that familia? Is it full of rude adventurers or do they just do shady stuff?" Sonic asked.

"It's more of the former. The Soma Familia is an exploration type familia, meaning they focus on exploring the dungeon. They also sell liquor as well, but that's not the issue. The problem is that they always seem so...desperate, as they always try to get as much money" Eina explained.

"Desperate? Lily didn't sound too desperate. She seemed okay with how many stones we got and didn't ask us to get more" Sonic muttered while in thought.

"Just forget about it, all that matters is that you have a good supporter. Don't let what I said change your decision. If you want to keep hiring her, then go ahead by all means"

"Well, thanks for your help Miss Eina. We'll see you tomorrow" Bell said before he and Sonic turned around to walk out. They barely got two steps towards the door when Eina called out to them.

"Bell?! Where's your knife?!" She asked in a panicked and worried tone. Sonic and Caliburn instantly leaned back to look at his back and both of them paled considerably. Bell, who was already scared by how pale his teammates looked, reached his hand back to grab his blade. His hand found the sheath, but further grabbing showed that it was in fact missing its weapon.

"I/YOU LOST THE KNIFE?!" All three of them shouted before they dashed out of the guild to search for the weapon that costed more than anything else they owned.

…

"Hmm, I can give you 30 valis" The gnome said after examining the black knife with markings for a minute. The small hooded person in front of him had a look of disbelief and surprise at the low value, "The blade has gone dull, it won't cut anything"

The person angrily grabbed the blade and marched out of the small store in a huff. She walked through the alley that led to a Main Street while ranting to herself.

_That knife was able to cut through all of those monsters without a scratch and he only offers 30 valis!_, Lily thought angrily. The only reason she even stole that white hair boy's weapon was because she saw how powerful it was in killing monsters. It had to have been a strong weapon to do so and it should've been worth a lot because so. While his weird looking partner had a much better blade that could actually talk, which would have made it way more valuable to sell, it would've been impossible to steal with how big it was and how it could easily shout if she tried stealing it. That was why she settled for the knife, but it turned out to be some cheap dud in the end.

As she was walking, she noticed two people in waitress uniforms walking towards her with bags of items in their arms. While she didn't know the human girl with silver hair, she easily recognized the blond elf that scared off her last _client_ easily. So she decided to keep her head down and pull the knife further into her sleeve to hide it. The two parties had walked past each other and were about to go their separate ways when one of them spoke.

"Stop right there, prum. Let me see that knife you're hiding" the elf suddenly said as she came to a stop. The girl next to her looked at her in confusion while Lily froze on the spot, "I want to see if that's the same knife of someone I know"

"I don't know what you're talking about, this is mine. I'm sorry, I can't help you" Lily said while trying her best to keep the nervousness from showing.

Ryu didn't say anything at first as she slowly slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out something before saying, "There's only one person I know who owns a weapon with hieroglyphics on it, and it's not you!" With that, she spun around and flicked a coin at her with the speed of a bullet. The coin struck her wrist and caused her to drop the knife in pain while letting out a quick gasp. She didn't bother picking it up as she bolted forward as fast as she could to get away from this new threat. She nearly made it to the Main Street before something appeared in front of her and she crashed into it. Both of them fell to the ground while trying to reorient themselves from the crash.

"Lily? What are you doing here" The person asked in surprise. She turned her head up only to find that the person she crashed into was the same person who she had stolen from earlier.

"Master Bell?"

Ryu cake running out of the alley a moment later only to see that the girl and Bell on the ground. What caught her attention were the pair of ears that were on the top of her head. Instead of being a prum, it turns out that she was a chienthrope.

"Oh, you too miss Ryu?" Bell said. While he was surprised why his supporter was running out of an alley and why the waitress, now with Syr following her, was running after her, he instantly remembered what he was doing before running into them, "Oh yeah! Have either of you seen a knife around here?! It's her black from top to bottom, covered in markings and really important to me!"

"You mean this?" Ryu said while holding up said knife. Bell paused his panic and took a few seconds to process what he just saw. After a few moments, tears began to well up in his eyes before he ran forward and grabbed the hand that held his knife.

"It's my knife! It really is my knife! Thank you so much for finding it!" He gushed in joy. Ryu flinched when his hands grabbed hers and then she began to look a little flustered from the prolonged contact. Syr gaped at the scene and had an affronted expression on her face as she took in what was happening.

"M-mister Cranel! T-there's no n-need to thank m-me like this. You s-should probably do t-this with Syr" Ryu stuttered as she looked away to hide her embarrassed face.

"Ryu?!"

"Here, just take it" she said while holding out the knife. Bell grabbed it and the hieroglyphics glowed blue for just a moment, something that Lily noticed.

"Thanks the gods. I promise to never drop this again, Goddess" Bell said with a sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't find the knife, the sadness that it would bring Hestia would honestly kill him onthe inside.

"Drop it?" Ryu asked with some confusion.

"Yeah, I must have somehow dropped it after leaving the dungeon. Sonic and I split up so we could check the city. By the way, where did you find it?"

"A prum had it" was all she said while glancing at Lily with a suspicious glare. After saying goodbye and Syr whispering something to Lily which made her flinch, the two waitresses went off to complete what they had been doing.

"Still, I'm lucky that I was able to find my knife. But this actually perfect, I wanted to talk to you about something" Bell said while turning to her, "Me and Sonic talked a little while walking to the guild and we decided that we wanted to do this again. Lily, we would like to hire you as our supporter if that's okay"

Lily looked up in surprise at the smiling boy in front of her. Despite having all the evidence of her stealing his weapon right in front of him, he didn't call her out on it and didn't even acted differently like he was suspicious. Not only that, he was actually being nice to her, something that came seldom, and even then it was usually fake. While his kindness might be genuine, she won't let her guard down. Thanks to his naivety, she would have another chance of getting that knife which she knew had to have some high value. She just needed to be careful with the animal person and his sword.

"Yes, Lily would gladly work with you" she said with a smile. Just keep up your act and the rest will be easy. That knife will be sold at at its rightful value and she'll be closer to achieving her goal.

**Before we end, make sure to leave a review as always on anything you think about this story. Possible ideas, things I need to improve upon, even some additional information that would make the story better. Feedback really helps and shows me that people like the story enough to say something about it. So thanks for that and I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, so you guys left a lot of reviews for the previous chapter and most of them had a lot to them. All I wanted to say is thank you so much, these reviews really help me decide what to do with the story. I greatly appreciate each review and the thought each of you put into it. Regarding the contents of the reviews, I will in fact be putting the knights of the round table into the story, sometime before or after the 18th floor fight. The suggestion about having them slowly act like their counterparts as they get comfortable was very smart. I also was thinking about adding Tails(normal version) so he could interact with some of scholarly characters like Eina and Riveria. Leave reviews if you have any specifics on the details or any other suggestions.**

"57,000 valis?!" Bell and Lily exclaimed in shock while Sonic let out an impressed whistle. They were now standing outside of the guild with today's earning on a table. Sonic had just finished counting their money and needless to say, they were shocked by how much they earned.

After officially hiring Lily yesterday, the trio focused on getting as many magic stones as possible. All the monsters in their way were easily disposed of and their cores were promptly collected before moving on. This was what they did as they progressed through each floor of the dungeon, resulting in a large amount of magic stones and then a hefty reward of valis.

"This can't be real! Please tell me I'm not dreaming!" Bell exclaimed. They have never earned this much money before so his doubt was well understood.

"This is amazing! Not even a large party of level ones can earn this much in a single day! Master Bell and Sonic are really amazing!" Lily squealed in excitement.

"Can you two please shut up?! You screaming is making me go deaf!" Caliburn shouted in annoyance. That quickly quieted the two as Bell let out a quiet apology.

"While I would agree, I also think that you should be quiet as well. Remember, I'm the one with sensitive ears" Sonic grumbled, "Anyway, let's split this up. It's a good thing that it's pretty even" While they were talking, Sonic had split the money into three separate pouches. He handed one of them to Lily, tossed the second one to Bell, and grabbed the last for himself.

"Hey!" Bell shouted as he fumbled with the bag to not let it drop to the ground. Thankfully, he was able to catch it before it fell out of his grip, "Why do you always toss the valis instead of just giving it to me like a normal person?! You did it for Lily, so why not me?"

"Bell Cranel, are you suggesting that I throw our hard working supporter's earnings like she's some animal? For shame Bell, for shame" Sonic scolded in a mock patronizing tone. While the two of them were playfully arguing, Lily was looking at the pouch of valis in her hands with surprise. Judging by the size of the others, it seemed to have just as much as theirs.

"Excuse me, Master Sonic?" She asked in confusion , "Why are you splitting the earnings equal with Lily? Shouldn't you and Master Bell try to take most of it for yourselves?"

"Huh, why would we do that Lily? We were able to earn this much thanks to you, so you deserve it" Bell said with a kind smile while Sonic gave a nod in agreement.

Lily looked at both of the adventurers in confusion. She has worked with many adventurers in the past and each of them acted differently, some being straight up jerks while others pretended to be nice only to turn on her later. However, one thing they had in common was that they always paid her less. Most of the earnings would go to them while she would get a meager portion at best. It made sense, the supporters don't kill the monsters so they should get paid less than the actual adventurers. With these two, they decided to split the reward equally with her and thanked her for what she did.

"...Weirdos" she muttered under her breath. Those two acted nothing like most adventurers and it actually threw her off a bit. Despite that, they were still adventurers and would always turn on her in the end. It was only because she wasn't paying attention that she missed the way Sonic gave her a curious look while slightly raising his eyebrow.

…

The next morning, the three of them woke up to the rather annoying sound of someone groaning loudly. It started quiet at first, making it seem like the sound was just a weird dream they were having. Then, it progressively got louder and louder until an especially loud one startled Bell awake. They were expecting some sort of monster had gotten in and was ready to attack them the moment they woke up. Instead, they quickly found the source was just Hestia curled up on the bed with a blanket covering her. Her groans seemed to be of pain judging from how she was clutching her head.

She had left during the night, claiming that she was visiting a friend. When she came back, she had stumbled across the room and passed out the moment she hit the bed. That along with how she reeked of alcohol, it was obvious that she had gotten drunk and was now suffering from a hangover.

"Honestly, does she even know restraint? She's a goddess, not some hoodlum that drinks their misery away" Caliburn muttered, annoyed by his loud awakening.

"Hey, she said that the gods came down to see what people were like. It isn't too crazy that she picked it up from the adventurers here" Sonic suggested as Bell offered Hestia a glass of water. She quickly snatched the glass and emptied it in one gulp before turning around.

"Goddess? Are you alright?" He asked. Hestia. All he got in response was small sound of annoyance from her. Along with a hangover, she has been acting very moody around them. Whether it would simply ignoring them to muttering words like 'cheater' and 'that girl' under her breath with Sonic being the only one who could hear it.

"Though, you might be right about her drinking some sort of misery away" he deadpanned. She must have been angry about something if she decided to drink to alleviate her anger.

"Hey Goddess, I know this may not be the best time to ask, ...but when's your next day off" Bell suddenly asked after placing a damp towel on her head. The three of them looked at him in surprise and curiosity.

"My day off?" Hestia repeated, finally deciding to stop ignoring them.

"Well, it's just that we have been making a lot of money in the dungeon and I was wondering if we could have dinner? To repay you for everything you've done for us"

"Dinner...like a date?" She asked to confirm, joy starting to spread across her face.

"Well, I guess you could see it like-" Bell didn't even get to finish before he was loudly interrupted by Hestia.

"I'd love to go!"

"Really th-"

"Let's go today!"

"But wha-"

"We're going today!" With each statement, Hestia got closer and closer to Bell until she literally had him pressed up against the wall.

"...but what about your headache?" He asked meekly.

"All better!" With a little bounce in her step, she hopped off her bed and started digging through the closet for clothes with so much vigor that you wouldn't believe she was writhing in pain a minute ago. But before she could find any, she stopped and began to sniff herself. The stench of alcohol still stuck to her and it smelled horrible.

"Bell! Meet me at 6 o'clock at the statue in Amor Square!" Hestia ordered before she began dashing to the stairs.

"Hold on! What about us?!" Sonic shouted once he finally processed everything that just happened.

"Go take a walk or something!" Was all she said before she disappeared up the stairs. The three were left staring at where she just was with confusion written all over their faces. Silence reigned over the room as their brains processed what they had just seen.

"...Was she faking having a hangover or did the prospect of having a date with the Knave actually made her feel better instantly?" Caliburn asked incredulously after a few moments.

"I'm...not sure" Bell muttered. He would be pretty happy if someone invited him to eat a good dinner, but not that happy.

"What I love is how she basically told us to go away so she could be alone with Bell" Sonic said with an exasperated expression. The worst part was that this wasn't new to him. Amy would do the same exact thing, make any hang out like a date and don't allow anyone else to go with them.

"It's quite trivial now that she's gone. I suppose we can take her suggestion and explore the city. There is still quite a few places I have yet to be acquainted with. This is the perfect opportunity to do so and the Knave can enjoy his 'date'" Caliburn said while glancing at Bell.

"It's not a date!"

**Later…**

With a sigh, Sonic glanced back at the imposing figure of Babel in the distance. No matter how many times he saw it, it always baffled him how it existed. It wasn't the first time someone built a tower that reached high into the sky, Eggman easily proved that with his amusement park. What surprised him was how it was made in this time eripod where technology was severely behind his. He heard that the gods were the one to build it when they descended, so at least it was somewhat explainable.

He and Caliburn had split from Bell early so he could meet up with Hestia. Ever since, the two of them had been walking around the city and looking around. He already took a quick run around the city when he first came here so he had basic knowledge on the sights, but now he could truly take in everything. They had so far walked many places that caught their attention like the Loki familia home, the perimeter of the walls, even a better look at Daedalus Street. There was this area where a lot of male adventurers were walking to and they almost went there, but one glance was all that was needed to confirm that they shouldn't go there.

"Why does a city need that many brothels? An entire district to that is actually quite concerning" Caliburn said in shock as they were quickly walking away from that area.

"Well, that's one place that I'm never going back to" Sonic muttered, trying to get the sight and scent out of his head. The entire area just smelled like pure lust, and it was something that he never wanted to smell again.

"Anyway, this walk was nonetheless quite interesting. This city does have many sights to offer. Had we not been in a different world, I would have frequent this place from time to time"

"Yeah, we do have to find some way to get back. Though until Joker decides to let us go, we're stuck here to just look around" he sighed lacing his hands behind his head.

After having that second dream, Sonic had told Caliburn about Joker and everything he said to him. He was just as confused and frustrated as the hedgehog was, but simmered down similarly. There wasn't much the sword could offer as help except to try and get more information the next time they talked.

"That miscreant is lucky that he talked to you instead of me or else he would have to answer my questions with a sharp edge to his throat" Caliburn grumbled, still annoyed by the entity's existence, "But that does bring up a good point. What will we do until he returns us? We might be exploring the dungeon, but there has to be some other goal to strive for in the meantime"

"Well, I was thinking that we could help Bell be a hero" Sonic said with a chuckle.

"Can you please take this seriously? We are talking about a fruitful goal, not a simple daydream"

"I am being serious" He said, most of the playfulness in his tone was replaced with a more serious tone, "He seriously can become a hero. Bell may have wanted a harem when he started, but now he's wanting to do it just to help people. Most of the adventurers I've seen are just greedy and selfish jerks, willing to trample on others to become rich and famous"

"But Bell isn't like that, he genuinely is a nice person who puts others before himself. He might be a bit naive, but that goes to show that he's willing to give anyone a chance. You see how hard he works down in the dungeon, he wants to repay Hestia for taking him in and to be recognized by the Sword Princess for saving him. While I'm here, I can at least help him grow into someone who is strong enough to protect the people he cares about. This world could use a person like that, a person that can inspire those to do the same and to bring hope back to those who have lost it, and I think Bell is that person. I'm already considered a hero back at home, so I think I can sit back and let Bell fill that role here"

Caliburn stared at his wielder in silent surprise. While it wasn't obvious from how he always had a playful and snarky attitude, Sonic can be quite wise and charismatic when the situation calls for it. During their adventure for the sacred swords, Caliburn had caught glimpses of his hidden side from time to time, but what truly confirmed it was at the end. It was after they had defeated the Dark Queen or Merlina's plan to make the world into a state where it will last forever. The sorceress was disheartened that everything will eventually die off and disappear, but Sonic offered her some advice. He could still remember his words clearly like they were yesterday.

"_That's why we gotta live life to the fullest in the time we have"_

"I must say Sir Sonic, you continue to impress me with each passing day. I can see why you became the true King Arthur"

"Hey, spare me the flattery. All I'm doing is just helping out a fellow teammate, no need to act like I just saved someone's life" Sonic quipped with a grin on his face.

"If you insist, but now that you mentioned him, I wonder how he and the goddess are doing? Hopefully, their date is going on quite smoothly" Caliburn mused in thought.

As if to answer his question, they spotted something running towards them. A closer look revealed that it was an extremely angry Hestia dragging Bell across the ground while running. The two passed them quickly and didn't even turn to acknowledge them before disappearing into an alley to the side. The two of them were about to say something to each other about it when they spotted another group running towards them. This time, it was a group of women that seemed to be chasing the previous two. They also ran past them without a second thought and split up to search for them. The hedgehog and the sword stood there in the middle of the street, dumbfounded expressions on their faces as they just stood there.

"...What the hell was that about?" Sonic asked after a few seconds.

"I don't have the slightest idea. How a date leads to being chased around the city by women is beyond me. Though, the Knave must be some type of hero for all those women to go after him" Caliburn said with a sarcastic hint at the end. Despite the obvious joking intent, Sonic shuddered slightly at the implications.

"Trust me, being chased by any woman in general is a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy" As he said that, Caliburn could see there was some fear in his eyes as he seemed to be remembering something. Judging from that and how he was talking, it sounded like he had had personal experience with that. What woman was scary enough that she frightens the same person who defeated powerful knights and monstrous creatures?!

…

"Oh, are you two not going to the dungeon today?" Syr asked as Bell handed back the box that she gave him when she made him lunch.

"Yeah, we suddenly got some free time on our hands so you don't need to make lunch for us" Bell said with a wry smile.

The previous day, Lily had asked them for some time off because of this thing she had to go to. She said it was a familia meeting and it was mandatory for every member. They obviously allowed her to go, though she did seem to think that going was against their contract and was surprised by how readily they were to allow her. After they left the dungeon, he was beginning to plan on how they should operate in the dungeon without their supporter, but Sonic had other plans. He suggested that they take a day off as well since Lily did. Aside from saying that they deserve to take a break once in awhile, he also gave an ultimatum that he wouldn't be going into the dungeon tomorrow no matter what. Because of this, Bell had no choice but to go along with it.

"Yeah, I'm probably going to run around the city. There's a lot of twists and turns here that should make it interesting. Maybe I can try exploring outside the city?" Sonic said, mumbling that last part as an afterthought.

"Lucky you, at least you know what you're going to do. I don't have a clue what I should do" Bell groaned, "Syr, what do you do on your day offs?"

"Me? Well, I do like to read when I'm not doing anything" she said after a moment of thinking.

"Reading? I'd like to, but the only books we have are the ones my goddess reads, and they looked to complicated to understand" he sighed while scratching his head. Each book she had was either written in a language that he didn't know or the material itself was far beyond his comprehension. Just as he was about to ask for any more suggestions, he noticed something that was behind Syr. It was a small dusty book that was propped up against the wall. There wasn't any eye catching designs on the cover, it actually seemed to blend in with the surrounding wood.

"Modern Magic even a goblin can understand?" Bell repeated as he read the title.

"That? A customer left this awhile ago and hasn't come back to pick it up. If you want, you can borrow it for the day to read" Syr said as she grabbed the book and handed it to Bell.

"Are you sure? I don't want to just take it without permission"

"It's fine, just make sure to bring it back when you're done" she said with a bright smile. Just like with the lunch, her smile broke down his defenses and he accepted the book. After leaving the pub, Sonic waved him goodbye before dashing off in a streak of blue.

When Bell got back home, he saw that he was alone as Hestia had her part time job to do. He pulled out a stool, sat down in front of the table, and began to read.

"Magic can be defined in two categories, Inherited and Acquired. Inherited magic depends on a person's race and can be achieved through training. Acquired Magic is determined through a falna, a blessing of the gods" he read, his eyes skimming over the pages.

_Wow, I never knew there was this much to magic_, he thought in surprise before continuing.

"Acquired Magic must be self actualized. It must come from your interests, what you love, what you hate, what you desire, what you respect, where your devotion lies. It must come from within yourself to manifest" As he kept on reading, he slowly began to become absorbed into the book. His surroundings started to blur out of focus while each word became clearer and clearer. Soon, he could feel the letters freeing themselves from the page and swim in front of his eyes. They began to swirl around and seem to condense into a figure. It was a person, everything about them was just gray and black except their stark white hair. Wait, it wasn't any person.

It was him.

_Shall we get started then? What is magic to me?_

At this point, everything around him was just a void of monochrome colors. Despite that, all Bell could focus on was that single question.

"_What is Magic to me? Magic is a weapon, a powerful force that is unstoppable. Not a shield to protect others, not a calming hand to heal others, a weapon that clears everything in the way, including the weakness in me"_

_What does Magic look like to me?_

"_Fire. A powerful and raging flame that burns everything. It scorches the plains, scatter the ashes, clears the obstacles. A strong force that is the opposite of the weak me" _As he said that, a large flame appeared behind him. It burned chaotically, but it also gentle as it stayed in place. It gave off an aura of both power and warm comfort

_What do you want from Magic?_

"_To be as swift as lightning, as fast as the wind, so I can be closer to her side and to make him proud" _Two images came to mind. One was a figure with flowing golden hair, standing off at a distance he couldn't reach with how he was. The other was a small figure that was a bright shade of azure with a sword at his side, standing next to him while giving an encouraging smile with a thumbs up.

_Is that all?_

"_Well...if possible...I want to be a hero, like the ones on the stories. To be able to help people and for him to finally call me one" _The background then changed to orange, the sun setting up ahead. A younger Bell was walking down a path with an older man. The two looked at each other and gave warm smiles before continuing to walk to the sunset.

_How childish!_

"_Sorry, but that's just me!" _Bell said with a smile before the world around him began to fade away. He was now floating in a black void that was bare of anything, just complete darkness as far as he could see. At least, that was what he thought until he heard footsteps behind him. He slowly turned around and found himself face to face with this tall figure. Despite how his suit seemed to blend in with the darkness, his white head that had no face stood out noticeably.

"_Hello there, it's a pleasure to meet you," _he said with a wave, "_It's quite fortunate that this book opened your subconscious, I can actually have the chance to meet you" _

"_Who...are you?"_

"_Who I am is not important, what I need you to do is give this to your friend. Consider it a small gift to warm him up for what's about to come"_ The figure explained while placing something in Bell's hand. Before he could ask what he meant or what the object was, the figure snapped his fingers and he truly blacked out.

…

"Bell? Bell!" As he slowly began to regain consciousness, he heard someone calling his name. His head was still foggy from the weird dream that he had, so he didn't recognize who was calling him or why.

"Wake up sleepyhead!" A voice shouted before he was suddenly drenched in ice cold water. He immediately woke up with a start and promptly fell backwards from tripping over the stool he was just sitting in. After a few coughs to get water out of his nose, he looked up to see Sonic holding an empty bucket while Hestia and Caliburn were scolding him for something.

"Goddess? Sonic? What are you two doing here?" He asked with a confused expression. The three of them stopped and looked over to the boy who was currently on the floor and dripping wet with water.

"Finally you're awake! We have been trying to wake you up for several minutes before this imbecile decided to use water" Caliburn explained while leveling an unamused glare at said hedgehog.

"Hey, don't go targeting me! My plan worked unlike yours, so give me some credit at least!" Sonic argued back. The two of them then started to have an argument on whether splashing him in the face was the appropriate way to wake him up. While they were doing that, Hestia had grabbed a towel and handed it to Bell so he could dry himself off. As Bell reached to grab it, his hand opened up and something fell out of it. It dropped to the floor and rolled into Hestia's foot.

"Huh? What's this?" She said as she picked up the small object. It was a small crystal ball that was just slightly bigger than a marble. Other than that, it's defining feature was how it gave off a light glow that would change colors every few seconds. It flashed in red, green, yellow, blue, turquoise, purple, white, and repeated again.

"I don't know, it wasn't in my hand when I sat down to read" Bell commented while also observing the gem. He was actually mesmerized by the soft glow it was producing, starting to get brought into a trance by its hypnotizing change of colors.

"Well, ain't this an interesting thing" Sonic said suddenly, swiftly taking the ball out of Hestia's hands and looking at it himself. While it may have seemed like just a peculiar jewel, Sonic was suspicious by it. To anyone else, the colors would have appeared to have been random colors. But he easily recognized them as the color of the seven chaos emeralds. The gemstones had a huge influence back in his world and were often at the center of any major conflict. Add that to the fact that Bell somehow has the item that happened to share that color similarity made it seem very fishy.

"We'll deal with that later, it might be something we can sell for extra valis" Hestia grumbled, annoyed at how the jewel was snatched out of her hands without her permission, "I was thinking about updating your statuses, you haven't had one for a few days now"

"You're right, we've been making a lot of progress in the dungeon so our stats must have gone up a lot!" Bell exclaimed with a hopeful expression. Despite that, he was still a little shaken by that weird dream he just had. It was strange enough to have figures of himself ask him questions, but that last figure was definitely the strangest. It was because he remembered the faceless person placing something in his hand and he coincidentally had an object in the same hand. He would have to ask Sonic or Caliburn more about it.

Soon after, Bell was lying down on the bed shirtless with Hestia sitting on his back. The soft glow from the falna lit up the room and casted shadows on some items scattered.

"You really fell asleep while reading a book? You're so cute Bell" Hestia said with a small chuckle while her finger worked around his status.

"It's not like it doesn't happen often, I've fallen asleep a few times while reading before" Sonic pointed out. The last it happened, he somehow ended up going into the story to save it. There was always an adventure somewhere around the corner, even in the most unassuming places.

"I guess you're right" she muttered. Right as she was about to say something else, her eyes widened considerably. She grabbed Bell's sides and pulled her face close to his back, looking at his status in complete disbelief.

"Goddess, is something wrong?" He asked curiously after noticing the grip on his sides.

"Magic" she whispered, "You...can use magic"

"Really? Really?!" Sonic and Caliburn both had looks of mild curiosity and interest. On the other hand, Bell got up so fast that Hestia was flung off his back and nearly fell off the bed.

**Bell Cranel**

**Level 1**

**Strength: C673~B706**

**Endurance: D585~C601**

**Dexterity: C645~C696**

**Agility: B731~B794**

**Magic: I0~I25**

**Magic: **

**Firebolt-Swift Strike Magic**

**Skills:/**

"Huh, I never thought you would actually get magic this quick. Must be because of that skill" Hestia sighed, whispering that last part to herself.

"I actually have it! Goddess, I have Magic!" Bell exclaimed in complete joy, completely ignoring what she just said. You could see the sparkles of joy in his eyes, he looked like a kid who just hit the Christmas present he always wanted.

"That's great dude, it's going to awesome blasting monsters with fire" Sonic said while playfully punching him in the arm.

"I suppose this is a large improvement for you, a power like that does set you apart from the fodder. Consider it your first step to becoming your own person instead of some rookie adventurer" Caliburn notes with a small grin.

"Yeah, though there is something about it that I should talk to you about. Just let me update Sonic first and then we can talk" Hestia suggested while gesturing for the hedgehog to the edge of the bed. Sonic walked over and sat down on the bed in front of Hestia. Ever since his second update, both of them had agreed that lying down wasn't a good way for him. So they decided that he would just sit down while she updated his status for the sake of both of them. While she was updating him, Sonic was making small talk with Caliburn to pass the time.

"I think my stats went up a good amount from all the monster we fought. Though I'm probably not going to get magic like Bell did, what are the chances of that happening?" He asked with a small chuckle.

"I'd wager improbable. There is no feasible way for you two to both get magic on the same day. The chances of so are very slim, so I am confident that it won't hap-"Caliburn started to say before he paused to look down at something, "Um, Sir Sonic? Your hand is glowing"

Sonic and the other two, confused, looked down to see that his hand was in fact actually glowing. It wasn't the hand itself, but the light seemed tone coming from inside his hand. He opened it up and quickly covered his eyes to shield them from the blinding light that had assaulted his eyes. While he didn't see what it was, he knew what it was in an instant. He had been holding that glowing marble in that hand since Bell dropped it, meaning that it had to have been the source of the light that was illuminating the room.

"Gah! Why the hell is it so bright?! Turn it off!" Hestia shouted in annoyance.

"I would if I could!" Sonic shouted back. He tried closing back his hand, but the intensity stayed the exact same, somehow shining just as brightly through his gloved hand. After a few more seconds of it, the light suddenly disappeared and they were able to open there eyes again.

"Is it over?" Bell asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I think so. What in the blazes was that and why did it glow like that?" Caliburn asked in a curious tone. He was the only one that didn't need to close his eyes so he was able to look directly at it. It wasn't that helpful as it was glowing too bright to even see anything.

"I wish I knew" Sonic muttered while hesitantly opening his hand, ready to close it in an instant if it started to glow again. To their surprise, his hand was empty, the marble nowhere to be seen. After checking over his hand and the floor just in case it somehow dropped, they confirmed that it had completely disappeared.

"What the hell is going on today?! First Bell suddenly gets magic, then he somehow has this weird marble, and then after the marble blinded us, it decides to just disappear! Can this day get any weirder?!" Hestia screamed in frustration while finishing up Sonic's update. Right as she said that, she stopped and stared at his back with a look of both surprise and restrained anger.

"Goddess, are you okay? Is there something wrong with his status?" Bell asked nervously, mostly due to how her eye was beginning to twitch erratically. With a drawn out sigh, she placed a paper on his back and copied the status onto it. She handed it to Sonic and started to rub her temple like she had just developed a headache. Giving one last curious glance towards the frustrated goddess, the three turned back to the paper to read what it said.

**Sonic the Hedgehog **

**Level 1**

**Strength: D562~D597**

**Endurance: E413~E17**

**Dexterity: C634~C684**

**Agility: B732~A821**

**Magic: I0~H100**

**Magic:**

**Forme Change: User changes into different forms and states that they have once been in. Consumption of Mind varies depending on strength of the power. (**_**Name of power)**_

**Skills:**

**Hedgehog- Allows usage of abilities by the hedgehog species, including the use of chaos energy**

"I can use Magic?! Sweet!" Sonic shouted with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah, and it sounds so cool! Imagine being able to change into different form, like wearing a magestic suit of armor or being cloaked in fire?!" Bell exclaimed with a star struck look. It was obvious that he was imagining what it would look like. The funny thing was that he did have a form that was asuit of armor and another that turned him into a ball of fire.

"As interesting as it is, this can't be a coincidence. I find it hard to believe that you two would happen to gain magic in the same day" Caliburn muttered with a look of contemplation. After a few seconds of thought, his eyes widened a bit as if he made a revelation, "The marble! It must have unlocked your magic when it was shining"

"I think you're on to something. It disappeared when the light died down and the next moment this spell shows up. The marble must have been responsible, but where did it come from? You were that had it Bell, where did you find it?"Sonic asked.

"I don't know, I didn't pick up anything while I was walking back. All I remember was this weird dream where someone placed something in my hand. Other than that, I know nothing"

"What the hell is even happening today?!" Hestia suddenly shouted, startling the other three, "First that wierd marble shows up and then both of you end up getting magic! Sonic's chant doesn't make sense and Bell doesn't even have one in the first place! Too much has happened too quickly and I need to sleep. I'm going to bed and you two can go experiment with your magic tomorrow when you go down in the dungeon"

"Huh? Tomorrow?"

"Don't worry Bell, your magic isn't going to vanish overnight. Just wait until tomorrow and then you can try it out" Hestia said reassuringly while placing a hand on his shoulder. Even if he looked as though he wanted to protest, he silently nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a bit tired myself. Let's go to sleep and we can head to the dungeon first thing in the morning" Sonic said with a yawn. The three of them then quickly went to their spots and soon fell asleep.

**Later that Night**

Well, not all of them fell asleep. Bell still stayed up thinking about his new magic. He just got an amazing power and he didn't know if he could wait until tomorrow to try it out. After some internal debate, he decided that he had to try it as soon as possible. Bell slipped on his clothes and snuck to the door as quietly as possible. He froze when Sonic shifted around, but the hedgehog just readjusted and continued being asleep. Right afterwards, he quietly slipped out and began dashing towards the dungeon with a determined look in his eyes.

Bell soon found himself on the first floor of the dungeon. Despite supposedly being active at all times, there was hardly any monsters there. It took a few minutes until he even ran into one. He had just turned a corner and stopped when he saw a goblin up ahead. It was simply wandering around, unaware of the human standing a few meters away from it. It would be his first target of the night.

_Okay, how do I use this?_, Bell thought to himself. It was a general rule that all magic had a chant to it. Magic users had to recite the chant if they wanted to use the spell. In his case though, there wasn't any chant there except saying swift strike magic. Maybe he just had to say the name to activate it? Holding up his arm, he grabbed it with his other hand to brace it and took a deep breath to prepare himself.

"Firebolt!" He shouted. The moment he said it, his hand lit up like a light and something shot out. It looked like a long jagged bolt of lightning, but it was red and had wisps of fire coming of it. It shot forward at an fast speed and struck the goblin. The monster was instantly destroyed as the bolt ripped through it and turned it into ash. Bell had stumbled back a little from the recoil, but he ignored that to focus on what he just saw. His spell tore through the monster like it was just paper, killing it the moment it made contact. Looking at his hands in awe, his face broke out into the largest grin he had ever had.

"Sweet!" He shouted loudly.

What followed next was Bell running through the dungeon with his arm extended, firing his magic at any monster that came across his path. The dim halls were frequently lit up by bolts of fire and crackles of lightning every few seconds. No monster was spared as a path of destruction and abandoned magic stones were left in the wake of the rookie adventurer as he traveled through floor after floor.

Soon, he eventually came to a stop as he took the chance to catch his breath. Between all the running, shouting, and spamming Firebolt, Bell was ready to drop to the ground and sleep right there. He looked around him and noticed that instead of green walls, brownish orange walls of the fifth floor surrounded him.

"Huh, looks like I went down further than I thought. I should probably head back up before they notice I'm gone" Bell panted as he turned around to walk back to the surface. Suddenly, his head felt extremely light and his thoughts paused. He hardly registered that his legs seemed to stop working and his body was falling backwards. The last thing he saw was the ceiling before everything went dark.

For the next few minutes, the only things that were in the room were Bell's prone body and complete silence. No sound of air moving, pebbles falling, or even the footsteps of a distant monster. It was like time froze in that area, nothing happening or changing. This went on for quite a while until…

"...Imagine the surprise of everyone when they hear that you defeated a floor boss by yourself" A voice said from one of the branching corridors. Two pairs of approaching footsteps were heard and slowly getting louder. The first person to walk out was a tall woman with green hair and elf ears. She was wearing a white dress and cloak while wielding a staff with a large silver ornament at the top with jewels embedded into it. Following her was the Sword Princess, looking as though she just had a rough battle with the rips and scuffs on her gear. The elf was the first to notice Bell as she immediately walked over to him. Crouching down, she held her hand in front of his mouth and confirmed that we was alive from his slow yet present breathing.

"Hmm, must be a case of Mind Down. He's probably a rookie adventurer who used his magic without knowing the consequences" she diagnosed with a sigh.

Mind Down was a condition that anyone with magic can get. As Magic required power from the mind, using too much can place a huge strain on a person's mind. The most common symptom was simply falling unconscious, but severe cases can lead to permanent damage or even death. This was why all magic users had to manage how much mind they use and to always have mind potions on hand in emergencies.

When Aiz looked over to see who Riveria was checking on, she let out a small gasp before she could stop herself. She had first assumed it that it was just some random adventurer that she would see once and most likely never run into again. What she wasn't expecting was to see the very person that she had been trying to find since the minotaur incident.

"Aiz, what's wrong? Do you know this person?" Riveria asked while turning to her fellow member.

"Yes, we haven't talked, but I have seen him down here," she said in a quiet voice. Riveria seemed to understand what she meant with the look of realization passing on her face.

"I see, so this is the unfortunate adventurer that Bete was talking about in the pub" she said with remorse while looking at the boy. Even though it was several days ago and he was extremely drunk when he did, she was still disgusted by what he had said. He had no right to make fun of an adventurer who nearly died because of something they did.

"Yes...and" Aiz began, sounding a bit unsure of herself, "I would like to make it up to him"

"Is that so?" Riveria asked. She seemed to be in deep thought before an odd smile grew on her face, "Then I think I might know what you should do"

…

Darkness. That was all Bell saw as he floated through a void. It looked the same as the dream he had earlier, but this one was vastly different. He felt like he was only a mind, trapped in a body that he couldn't control. All he could do was watch as his body floated in an endless expanse. He didn't know how much time had passed, minutes, hours, days even? Time meant nothing as he stared through the abyss.

Suddenly, it all changed. The inky blackness turned into a light blue like the sky on a clear day. Everything seemed brighter, more alive. There was still silence, but it more serene than eerie. Most notable of all was the sensation of comfort that washed over his body. It felt like he was resting his head on a fluffy cloud, but much warmer. The sensation of someone stroking his head with a delicate finger soon became present as well. Bell could only describe it as tender care, like how a mother cared for her child as she soothed their problems with a single touch.

"Mom?" He muttered quietly. His eyes started to open and the first thing he could see was a person gazing down at him. Her long hair easily confirmed that she was a female, so he naturally said the first thing that she reminded him of.

"Sorry, but I'm not your mother," the girl said. This interrupted his thoughts as the voice sounded too young to be a mom. As he started to see more, he noticed that the girl above him was in fact young, looking around his age if not older. The hair that he saw was a rich blonde color. One part of her clothes were ripped right below the breastplate. Her overall appearance seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember were exactly.

"Is this a dream?" He asked.

"No, this is not a dream" The girl said, slightly pouting this time. He could see the slight annoyance in her gold colored eyes that easily told him that she wasn't happy with him dismissing it as a dream.

_Wait, Gold eyes, blonde hair? Oh gods, it's Miss Wallenstein!_, Bell mentally shouted as his eyes widened in realization. Out of all the things he was expecting, having her be the first thing he sees when he wakes up was not one of them. Searching through his memory, he remembered that he was in the dungeon late at night to test his new magic. After he reached the fifth floor, he was about to leave when he suddenly passed out for some reason. Somehow between that and waking up, Miss Wallenstein came across his unconscious body and decided to watch after him until he woke up.

_Okay, okay, okay! Don't freak out, got to keep my cool. I should first thank her for keeping me safe while I was knocked out and then apologize for running away after she saved me. It shouldn't be that difficult,_ Bell formulated quickly. While normally he would have ran in embarrassment, his confidence has improved a bit since the minotaur incident. Sonic really helped with all the motivating and teasing he has done. Right as he was about to voice his thoughts, a random question came to mind.

What was the soft thing he was lying on? This entire time, his head felt like it was on a soft pillow. He was lying down on the hard ground yet he didn't feel the rough surface of rock. Since it would be strange for her to be carrying a pillow, she had to have used something else. His eyes glanced at the rest of Miss Wallenstein's body and noticed that it was _very_ close to his. With how close she was, he would have had to been on her legs or something for them to be this close.

His eyes widened a bit more as he realized what he was lying on. For her to be this close, he would have to have literally been on her to do so. A quick glance to the side confirmed his theory as he saw her knees come out from under his head. The reason why his head was comfortable was because he had been sleeping in her lap.

All previous confidence disappeared in an instant and was quickly replaced with embarrassment. Pitching his body forward, Bell removed himself from her lap, curled up into a ball just like a certain blue anthropomorphic hedgehog, and rolled away all the while screaming the entire time. Aiz was caught by surprise and wasn't able to react quickly enough to stop him from rolling away into the darkness of the dungeon. All she could do was stare off in the direction he had just fled in.

"Why does he always run away?" She asked herself with a pout and an embarrassed blush.


	9. Chapter 9

**Review reply: To bs, I don't know if I want to develop a relationship between Sonic and Percival. It doesn't go well with his character. Maybe close friends, but probably no more than just that. Lastly, sorry for the long wait, the chapter took some time to write.**

"Ahh! Why did I run away?! I'm such an idiot!" Bell wailed somewhat incoherently while clutching a blanket over his head to hide himself.

"You know, it might be helpful if you just told us what happened instead of crying about it" Sonic said with an annoyed expression.

Ever since he got back from the dungeon, Bell had been crying about running from the Sword Princess. This was the second time she had helped him and he once again ran like a coward. The problem wasn't even her, it was the fact that she was giving him a lap pillow that caused him to panic.

Meanwhile, the three other residents were rudely woken up by his excessively loud crying. They had tried to tune it out as much as they could, but it was useless as they could still clearly hear him. So here they were, Sonic and Caliburn trying to find out why he was like this while Hestia was rubbing her head to calm herself.

"Bell, I know something must have happened to make you like this, but there's no need to make it such a huge deal" Hestia said, trying to calm him down. All she got in response was a pitiful whimper before the wailing resumed.

"This is pointless. All we can do at this point is to leave him until he stops on his own accord. Nothing we do is changing anything" Caliburn sighed in resignation.

"I guess, this has to be bad for him to still be crying like this" Sonic muttered. He had to do something else until his teammate calmed down enough to have a normal conversation. Turning around with intent to go outside and take a quick jog, he spotted the book that Bell had borrowed from Syr on the table. While reading was something he did only on the occasion, it was something he didn't mind doing despite his energetic nature. Besides, it might help him learn how to use his new magic more efficiently. Sonic bent over and grabbed the book before flicking through a few pages to see what type of book it was, but he only got a few in before he noticed something odd.

"Hey Bell, why is this book empty?" Sonic asked in confusion.

"Huh, What do you mean by empty?" Caliburn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean that this book is completely empty, all the pages are blank" he said while turning the book towards. As he said, the pages were bare of any words or pictures. Even as he flicked through the book, there was not a single trace of letters anywhere on it. It was more like an empty journal rather than a book that's supposed to already have writing in it. While Caliburn was looking at the book with a quizzical expression, Hestia was staring at it in a mixture of horror and disbelief.

"No...no, no, no, no, no!" She cried in desperation as she yanked the book out of his hands and started flipping through it quickly. With each passing page, her face became paler and paler until her face was as white as Bell's hair.

"Um, G-goddess? Is there something wrong?" Bell asked nervously, halting his crying in favor of learning why Hestia was acting like her life was over.

"This isn't a normal book...It's a grimoire" she said with a weak voice.

"A grimoire?"

"It's a book that allows a person to learn magic by just reading. Because of that, these are highly sought after by all adventurers"

"At least that explains how Bell got his magic that day, and that glowing marble did the same thing now that I think about" Sonic pondered to himself. Both had granted them magic, but the marble was still an enigma on where it came from, "But then how is it blank? Bell said he was reading it yesterday"

"That's the thing, once a person reads a grimoire, all the power in it disappears. It can only be used once before it becomes useless" she explained. That caused the three of them to freeze up a little at the implications. The part about not being able to use it again after one use wouldn't have been an issue if it was theirs. But the problem was that it belonged to someone else and they had borrowed it because the person hadn't came back to pick it up.

"This...isn't good" Caliburn said bluntly with an exasperated expression. Bell on the other hand had instantly hopped off the couch and grabbed the book before trying to run to the stairs. They could tell he was in a panic he kept bumping into everything in front of him.

"Bell?! Where are you going?!"

"I need to go back to the pub and apologize for this! They let me borrow the book because someone left it and hadn't came back to get it" Bell tried explaining while struggling to keep himself from tripping. It was at this that Hestia turned ghostly white and it looked like her soul had left her body. That made the other three stop and stare at her in both confusion and slight anxiety.

"Bell...you do realize that a grimoire is worth as much as a top class weapon made by the Hephaestus familia?" She said in a whisper. Despite that, a thick silence became present over the entire room. It was like there was an invisible pressure that was weighing down on each of them heavily. The colors on all of their faces had quickly drained and they just stood there motionless.

"...We need to get rid of the evidence. I'll take care of it" Hestia said with a look of grim determination as she walked over and took the book from a frozen Bell. She barely got a few steps up the stairs before he snapped out of his trance and grabbed her arm.

"Goddess?! What do you mean by getting rid of the evidence?!"

"It means we can't let anyone know about this! This world is unfair and cruel, even more so than the gods!"

"We can't just do that!"

"I'm already in enough debt as it is, I don't need another!"

As the two struggled and argued over what to do with the book, Sonic and Caliburn had gone back to normal and were know watching the spectacle with uneasy expressions.

"It's know that I understand why Joker refers to this as a game. Only someone sick and twisted like him could possibly find enjoyment from this" Sonic said with a sigh.

"That is a good point, a very good point indeed" Caliburn muttered.

…

"Now where could it be?" Eina muttered to herself as she searched the shelves for a particular item.

Ever since her two charges had hired that supporter, she couldn't help but feel anxious about them. The source of her anxiety wasn't from the girl herself, but the familia that she was in. Just as the Loki Familia was famous for its strong adventurers and the Ganesha Familia for their active role in helping the city, the Soma Familia was famous, or rather infamous for their wine and troublesome members. There hasn't been a single day where she hasn't heard of something that the members have done. Arguing with the exchanger over the amount of valis they earned, trying to cheat out stores to give more money than the items they try to sell are worth, and even getting into fights with other adventurers on the occasion. The entire familia seemed to be desperate to earn as much money as possible and they don't care about what means they have to go through to achieve it.

While her affiliation with the guild meant she must maintain complete neutrality, her selfish side won out as she worried about Bell being caught up in their drama, especially when he had 'lost' his weapon. She knew he would be able to defend themselves against most threats, especially with Sonic there.

That hedgehog had been the source of her curiosity, ire, and puzzlement for the past couple of days with the fact she knew nothing about him. Any attempts to question or reason with him would usually be responded with snarky jokes and vague answers, even his sword refused to give information and her coworker Misha still teases her about losing an argument to a sword. The strangest thing about him was that she didn't know if his race actually existed. Hours of research to find info in the archives about people who looked more like animals than people resulted in nothing. Either they were extremely isolated from the rest of the world, or he lied about his village full of the so called race.

Those thoughts were for another time, she had more urgent issues to deal with. After all of the worrying, she decided to take matters into her own hands and find more information about the Soma Familia. The details that the guild have weren't enough to explain there behavior, so she would have to be more direct with her search. That was why she was in a dusty store that was far off the main street. Despite how shady it looked, the items they sold were actually decent in quality, some of the things there were the same as the more popular stores but more cheaper.

"Riveria, Look! It's Soma wine!" Someone shouted excitedly from the other aisle, snapping Eina out of her thoughts. She paused her search and walked around the corner to see who had just yelled. In the middle of the aisle was the goddess Loki who was tugging on Riveria's cloak while pointing at a jar on the top shelf just like a little kid would, "Let's buy it! Please Momma?"

"Don't call me that" Riveria said in annoyance while brushing of the hand grabbing her, "Besides, we are here to restock our supplies. This is not an excuse to get you wine"

"Miss Riveria?" Eina asked in surprise. The high elf turned around to see the familiar half elf peeking around the corner.

"Eina, it's good to see you again. What brings you here?"

"I'm just doing some personal research. I was looking for information, but I haven't got any thing concrete" Eina explained with a sheepish smile. There wasn't many ways to get in depth info on the Soma Familia without asking one of there members and that was out of the question. The only other way was to find someone who had large connections in the city and the only ones who had those were the major gods like Hermes, Hephaestus, Ganesha, and…

Eina's eyes widened a bit as she realized that the goddess in front of her might have the info she was looking for. As the head of one of the strongest familias and being a trickster goddess, she would undoubtedly have plenty of information on what happens inside of the city. If she could somehow convince her to answer questions, she can learn enough so she could properly handle Bell's situation.

"Actually, If you're able to, there some things I would like to ask you Goddess Loki"

"Huh, you want information? On what?" Loki asked in surprise.

"The Soma Familia. There behavior has always been a mystery for the guild and I would like to try to understand it as best as possible"

"I would, but now you reminded me about the Soma wine. Are you sure we can't get it?" She said before going back to beg Riveria for the wine.

"Are you serious? Can't you focus on something else except drinking alcohol?"

"Please! If you do, I promise to answer any question she has!"

Riveria let out a long drawn out sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. Even when her goddess can be smart and caring at times, she acted like a brat a majority of the time. It went against her better judgment to listen to her selfish demands, but at least it would bring some benefit of helping Eina. That was what went through her head as she reluctantly agreed to buy the wine and was now watching Loki cradling it like a child.

"I'm so sorry for me being the reason you had to buy it" Eina apologized profusely after they had left the store.

"It's fine, I would've eventually had to buy it for her anyway. At least I can find comfort in knowing doing this will help you" Riveria said with a small smile before turning back to Loki, "Alright Loki, remember you side of the deal"

"Fine, fine, fine. So you want to know what the Soma Familia is all about? Well, the first thing you should know is that the reason they all are like that is because of what they worship and it sure ain't their god, it's this bad boy" Loki said with a mischievous grin while gesturing the jar in her hands.

Soon, the three had ended up in one of the rooms in the Twilight Manor. Loki insisted that they should be in the building so she can enjoy her wine while informing Eina. So while the two elves were drinking tea, the goddess was gulping the wine from a separate glass. Standing at the side of the door was the Sword Princess who seemed to have been waiting for them to finish.

"So, what you're saying is that the Soma Familia worship wine instead of the gods?" Eina asked with disbelief in her tone.

"Yep, their wine is pretty top notch for a bunch of idiots. Even this stupidly expensive cask is nothing but a failure that they put on the market" Loki explained while swirling the drink, "The real one that you can't get anywhere, now that's something else. One sip of that and you're drunk to your very soul. Everything else becomes a waste as all you can think about is that wine. It's pretty damn easy to lose yourself in the addiction. Many people join the familia just to get a taste"

"That's it?! That's the only thing keeping the familia together?!"

"Exactly, But it costs money to make wine, meaning they have to earn it somehow. So they offer a taste to the adventurer who collects the most money. One sip and they are tempted towards getting another at all costs. Some get desperate, enough that they betray their friends and even sacrifice each other"

With one last gulp, Loki drained the last of wine from her glass with a satisfied sigh. Despite what she was saying, she seemed to have been paying more attention to the taste of the wine instead of the fact that an entire familia was basically in disarray because of it, "So, did that help you out?"

"Yes, thank you so much Goddess Loki" Eina said while bowing.

"Good" Loki said before standing up and began walking to the door, "Aiz, can you stop being mopey? Whatever happened in the dungeon couldn't have beeen that bad. Let's get your status updated, it'll make you feel better"

"Alright then" Aiz responded quietly while opening the door.

"Perfect, I'll also give you a massage if you still look sad"

"If you try that, I will cut you"

"C'mon!" With one last indignant shout, the two had left the room and left the two elves to themselves.

"Goddess Loki truly is an interesting goddess" Eina said with an uneasy smile.

"I agree. Despite how ridiculous she acts most of the time, she is very clever. I believe all of her children share the same sentiment" Riveria said with a small smile before sipping her tea.

"Yeah…" Turning back to her own cup, Eina began to think about what she heard. Every case of the Soma Familia's behavior turns out to be caused by a single source and they have committed even worse acts that she hadn't heard of until now. If they were willing to betray each other just to get more money, then what was that girl planning to do with Bell and Sonic? This issue has become more serious than she thought and she might have to use more direct approaches to solve it. Trying to distract herself, Eina took a small sip of her tea before…

"YOU'RE A LEVEL SIX NOW?!" She promptly spat out her tea in surprise by the sudden shouting.

…

"That was close, remind me to never read any book regarding magic again" Bell sighed in relief.

"I hear you man, I thought we were going to be in serious debt for a moment" Sonic said with a forced smile.

After the panic from that morning had calmed down, the trio had returned to the pub to give back the grimoire they had borrowed. The moment they did, Bell instantly bowed low and profusely apologized for the damage he had down. Syr had acted in false distress, joking that he had done a horrible thing, despite Sonic pointing out that she gave him the book. To their surprise, Mama Mia simply shrugged and tossed the empty book in the garbage bin before resuming her work. When asked why she did it, she responded that the damage was already done and that the person who left it should expect something like this to happen. Bell was about to argue against that, but quickly silenced himself when she gave him a dark glare that dared him to try to talk back to her. He and his two snickering teammates quickly bid them farewell and jogged off to the dungeon.

"I think we don't have to fear about the adventurer trying to seek payment from us. Only a man with nerves of steel can talk back to that women and most of the adventurers here are spineless cowards" Caliburn huffed with amusement.

"Not the way I would say it, but you do have a point" Bell chuckled while looking around. There weren't many people around here, but he couldn't find her anywhere. They and Lily had chosen the fountain area as their meeting spot before going into the dungeon. She had always been there before them, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen, "Hey, where's Lily?"

"Dunno, maybe something came up and she's running a bit late" Sonic shrugged as he also looked around.

"There she is!" Caliburn shouted while hopping. The other two turned to where he was facing and looked. Slightly hidden by the bushes and trees was Lily standing there. Right next to her was this tall man who also had animal ears like her. They seemed to be talking, or rather arguing judging from how uncomfortable Lily looked and how he grabbed her shoulder when she tried to walk away.

"Lily!" Bell shouted before starting to run in their direction. He barely got a few steps before someone stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

"Hey" The man said with a smirk. He was wearing a blood red coat with a black shirt and brown pants. His raven black hair was tied in a ponytail and a sword was strapped onto his back.

"Your the guy from the other day, the same dude that tried attacking Lily" Sonic growled as he grabbed Caliburn's hilt. That combined with the look he was giving them made him ready to react to anything her tries to do.

"So you've hired that thieving rat huh? That means you already know about her" he said

"What do you mean by that?" Bell asked suspiciously, also on edge.

"Don't give me that, you seriously can't be that dumb? But anyway, I can help you get back at her. Don't you want to know how much she has stashed?" He asked with a laugh. With each sentence, he took one step towards them until he had circled around them. He then went right up to Bell and sling his arm over his shoulder like they were close friends.

"How about it? It'll just be a couple of guys making a quick buck off a dirty pack mule" he whispered with a grin.

"No!" Bell shouted as he shoved the guy away from him. If he thought he was bad before, then right now he found him despicable. Trying to convince him to turn against Lily and rob her like it was just some pastime hobby, it honestly infuriated and disgusted him at the same time.

"Tch, Have it your way brat" the guy scoffed before walking away.

"Yeah, and don't come back sleazeball!" Sonic shouted to his retreating back. He smirked when he saw the guy flinch a little but didn't turn around to acknowledge them, "Good job Bell, you really showed that guy who's boss"

"I guess, but we should check on Lily" Bell said with a serious expression. The two of them turned around to resume what they were about to do only to find Lily was standing right behind them, "Lily? Please don't do that, you almost scared there"

"Master Bell, Master Sonic, What were you talking about with that adventurer?" She asked suspiciously.

"Just something we weren't interested in" Sonic muttered while glancing in the direction that the guy walked away to, "I'd suggest you be a bit more careful, that guy is trouble and he has something against you. But better question, are you alright? That conversation you were just having looked pretty tense for a moment"

"Lily is fine, let's go into the dungeon. We need to make up for the time lost here" She brushed off before quickly turning around and began walking towards the entrance of the dungeon.

_Looks like that time has come already_, she thought to herself. This event only showed that she would have to do it as soon as possible, there was no more beating around the bush. Bell, Sonic, and Caliburn all stared at her before sharing a look with each other. Even though nothing was said, they all understood what the other were thinking. With a nod in agreement, they followed after Lily to the dungeon.

After they had finished for the day, the group walked back home to the church. The dungeon dive today had been especially successful for them. The two boys got to try out their magic on the monsters, though both of them were suspicious of how the other seemed to be already proficient with their supposedly new magic. Sonic didn't know that Bell had snuck into the dungeon last night to experiment which led to up to him crying in the morning and Bell didn't know that Sonic had used his 'magic' before even coming here.

Speaking of which, the hedgehog was glad to learn that his magic was basically his ability to change forms but without a specific trigger or item. He first tested it out by calling out the name of one of his wisp forms, Burst being the one he tried. Just like when a Red Wisp would enter his body, he felt a surge of energy within him and he suddenly became a raging ball of fire. Rushing forward, he charged up the flames around him and released them in large explosions that incinerated everything that came close to him. The power was just the same as it was before, but there was a noticeable difference in the time limit. While before he would be stop when the Hyper go on energy ran out and the wisp exited him, he now was forced to stop after a while when he started to feel dizzy. Sonic went back to fighting with Caliburn and his legs after that, but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. If he could transform into any wisp form we wanted at anytime, there was nothing stopping him from messing around in slightly destructive ways. Forget the dungeon, Orario should be afraid of him now.

"So, you want to have that supporter of yours stay with us for awhile?" Hestia asked to confirm, returning the hedgehog back to the current situation.

"Yeah, with all these people after her,

I thought she could lay low with us until it settles down" Bell explained. After the two of them had separated from Lily, they had talked about what they were going to do about her situation. After what had happened that morning, it was obvious that the guy they ran into and the one talking to Lily were bad news and they figured she could use some help.

"Yeah, but I don't think this is a good idea" she said bluntly. That actually caught them slightly by surprise by how quickly she answered, "I know that may have been a bit harsh, but you do see what I mean. From what you have told me about her, there are a few things about her that sound suspicious. Like your knife, did you really drop it that day? And why would there be all these people after her? It's obvious that she's hiding something from you"

The room fell into an somewhat tense silence as the two groups stared each other down. Hestia had her eyes narrowed as she waited for them to realize the mistake they were making while the three were staring at her with what almost looked like awkwardness. After some time, one of them finally broke the silence.

"Goddess, that's the thing...we already know that she's hiding something from us" Bell said while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

"Huh?" Came Hestia's intelligent response.

...

The group had woken up as usual, got their gear ready and walked to the dungeon. The two talked a little, mainly about the discussion they had last night, but they mostly walked in contemplative silence. Soon, they had arrived at the usual meeting place to find Lily sitting by the fountain. She seemed to be alright, but she had a noticeable frown on her face and looked like she was mentally preparing herself for something.

"Hey Lily! Are you alright, you look like you're thinking about something" Bell said as they walked right up to her. The sudden voice caused her to jump a little and only when she saw it was just the two of them she calmed down a bit.

"Oh, hello Master Bell and Sonic. You just caught the by surprise. I'm okay, just thinking about our plan for today"

"Alright, so what'll we be doing today Miss Supporter?" Sonic asked with small smirk.

"I was thinking that we should head to the tenth floor. You two are strong enough to handle floor nine, so we should try going deeper" Lily explained.

"Floor ten, huh? From what I heard, the monsters are different from the previous floors and much stronger. I know Sonic can handle it, but are you going to be alright" Bell muttered while placing a hand on his chin.

"It will be alright Master Bell. Lily has been to Floor eleven before so I know how the monsters down there are like. Besides, both you and Master Sonic now have magic fire power! I'm sure there'll be no problem"

"I guess so, let's go check it out then. The floor is bound to look somewhat interesting if there's different monsters" Sonic said with a shrug. With the others in agreement, the group walked into the tower and descended down into the dungeon.

**Later…**

Arriving quite some time after the group of three, Eina stood in front of the Tower of Babel with an expression of determination. She had a mission to fulfill and she had to do it quick.

"I hope I get the chance to talk with her. The two of them must know what they have often into" she muttered to herself while glancing at the file in her hands.

After the discussion with Goddess Loki, she had conducted some last minute research with some guidelines being the new information she learned. That had helped her steer in the direction of finding evidence that backed up the goddess' claim and what she found was shocking. A large amount of the reported deaths were shown to be members of the Soma Familia. Coincidentally, the surviving member of the deceased party earned a much larger profit that day. This along with other evidence proved the effect the wine had over the familia. If that supporter was under the same addiction but was able to hide her desperation, she could easily trick adventurers into hiring her only to then betray them for their earnings and rare gear. It was because of this that Eina decided she would have to talk with Goddess Hestia, the patron goddess of their familia. Once she told her, she would then tell her members which would convince them to get away from that supporter.

_Even if I'm supposed to keep neutrality, I'm not letting my charges die like this_, She thought as she pressed the elevator button to go to the upper floors. As she waited for the elevator to open, she noticed that someone was watching her from the corner of her eye. Turning to the side, she was surprised to see that it was the Sword Princess who was giving her a curious look.

"Oh! Hello Miss Wallenstein, it's a pleasure to meet you"

"Hello, weren't you the one that came to talk with Loki?" She asked.

"Yes, I was looking for information and she was grateful enough to help me" Eina explained, "Anyway, I actually wanted to thank you. You saved an adventurer under my supervision some time ago when he was about to be killed in the dungeon"

"I did?" Aiz seemed to be trying to recall saving anyone in the dungeon. A lot had happened recently, so it didn't exactly click right away.

"Yes, His name is Bell Cranel" Seeing the Sword Princess' still confused expression, she knew she had to be more specific, "Umm, he has white hair and red eyes, looks like a rabbit?"

That seemed to jog her memory as her eyes widened in surprise and she let out a small sound of surprise. She never got the chance to learn his name, he usually ran off before he could even say anything. Aiz seemed to deflate a little as she remembered that detail as well. She had been trying to talk to him ever since the minotaur incident so she could apologize, but he always ran away. The most recent one when she came back from the 37th floor really saddened her as the chance was literally on her lap and he ended up running away again the moment he woke up. She still blamed Riveria for suggesting that she let him rest on her lap.

"Oh, I hope I didn't scare him"

Now it was Eina's turn to be surprised. She was worried that she scared Bell? While she could understand what she meant since the first thing Bell did was run away, but it mostly the complete opposite. He usually talked animatedly about like how he wanted to catch up to her and maybe be close enough to be recognized as an equal. If anything, he would have been happy to have the chance to talk with her.

"No, it's quite the opposite. Mr. Cranel has been exceedingly appreciative of everything you have done for him"

"Really?"

"Really"

Aiz let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. It felt like some of the issues that have been weighing on her had suddenly been lifted and now she could breathe better. Now that she knows he isn't afraid of her despite constantly running away, all she had to do was apologize for the minotaur incident. Maybe his advisor could find some way for them to talk?

"So, Arde is getting ready to scam those damn idiots! The one with the white hair and that blue freak!" A man boomed loudly. The two girls turned around instantly to see who had said that. The voice came from a group of four adventurers. There wasn't anything particularly unique about them, even the person with animal ears was a common feature in Orario. What caught their attention the most were the words. They easily deduced that the white hair person was Bell and by extension Sonic being the blue 'freak'.

"Yeah, don't mess this up fellas. Once they're finished, it'll be easy loot for us" Another man said, this one wearing a blood red coat. The group of men laughed before disappearing into the tower.

_Are those adventurers connected to that supporter? That would mean_.., Eina thought to herself worryingly. If they were also involved with this, then Bell and Sonic might be in way more trouble than she thought they were. They were most likely in the dungeon right now so she had to find a way to send them help. As if to answer her plea, she realized that a first class adventurer was standing right in front of her. It may have been rude to ask, but there was no other way to do so.

"Miss Wallenstein,...there is a favor I must ask you" Eina started with some hesitation. Aiz stopped looking in the direction the men had left in and turned back to face the guild employee. Suddenly, Eina bowed low so that she was looking directly at the ground, "Please help those two!"

…

After kicking another monster into a wall, Sonic thought about what they have been doing. Once they went into the dungeon, they mostly focused on traveling through each floor instead of fighting the monsters. While they were able to avoid them most of the time, they were a few that were insistently persistent on chasing them. It barely made a difference as he and Bell easily dispatched them without breaking a sweat. This gave them the chance to truly appreciate the aesthetic of the dungeon. Despite being a place where mindless killing machines were born, he had to admit the different colored rocks on each floor were pretty cool.

Right now, they were on the ninth floor, nearly to the tenth according to Lily. Up until now, that was the deepest floor they had been on as Bell was somewhat insistent that they take it one floor at a time to avoid running into a monster they couldn't fight. Though Sonic knew that he would have to go way deeper to find strong monsters, he also knew that he was just cautious due to his run in with a minotaur. Especially now that Lily was with them, he didn't want anything bad to happen just because they got cocky. So he would stick to their level for now, but he sure would plan some deep dives when he goes by himself.

"Even I have said it before, I would like to thank both of you taking my suggestion about going to the tenth floor" Lily said, breaking the silence they had been in.

"It's alright, we would have ended up here eventually. I guess we're just doing it sooner rather than later" Bell shrugged with a small smile.

"It's about time as well, I have grown used to the monsters on these floors. I am curious to see how easily these monsters will fall to my edge" Caliburn said with slight irritation.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to give you something!" Lily exclaimed. She set her bag down and began to dig through it. It's size wasn't a joke as it took her a few seconds to shift through it to find what she was looking for. She pulled out a blade that was currently in a sheathe. Offering it to Bell, he took it and slowly unsheathed it. The weapon was very simple, with only a black and yellow grip and an ordinary blade, "The knife you use right now is a bit too short, this baselard on the other hand should have enough reach for the monsters you will fight"

"Wow, thanks Lily" Bell thanked while turning to put the weapon away, only to realize that he didn't have anywhere to put it. The only place he could was in the protector on his arm, but that was where he would keep the Hestia Knife. Thankfully, all it took was some rearranging until it was good. He moved the knife to the pouch on his side while placing the new sword on top of his protector. With a nod, the group continued their trek through the tunnels.

Soon, they had reached a stairwell that had a little fog coming out of it. The group made their way down as the fog slowly got more and more thicker. When they reached the bottom, it looked like someone had drained all the color from everything. The floor was a single cavernous room as opposed to the tunnels that were the previous floors. A sea of fog spread out below from the ledge they were currently standing on. Everything was just some shade of white, gray, and the occasional black.

"Woah, it's like we're in some sort of haunted forest. How did the dungeon make all of this?" Sonic whispered in awe as they made their way down. His forest analogy was more accurate than he expected as there were actual trees sprouting from the ground. They were exactly like trees in winter, bare of any leaves. Running his fingers over one, he was surprised to see that they were made of stone instead of wood.

"What are these even?"

"Those are called landforms, they naturally grow in the dungeon. However, I'm afraid we have more pressing issues" Lily explained with a grave tone.

Right afterward, a deep growl came from up ahead. The group looked forward to a large shadow emerging from the thick fog. The figure was a large green monster with a huge stomach. It's arms were short and thin, as opposed to the rest of its hulking body.

"So that's an orc, they sure are different from the other monsters from before. I'll take on this one" Bell said while drawing his sword. The orc took that as a challenge as it roared loudly. It grabbed one of the landforms next to it and started to tug at it. The object quickly came loose and the orc spun it around so that it would grip the end, wielding it exactly like a club.

The two stared at each other for a moment before charging forward with a battle cry of their own. The orc attacked first as it swung its makeshift weapon at Bell's head, only for him to duck under the attack. It swung a few more times onto which each attack was easily dodged. Bell waited until it was in the right position before he quickly dashed forward and slipped through its legs. Before it could turn around, he spun around quicker and stabbed the monster in the back of the knee. It took some effort to push it through until the blade came out the other side and even more just to pull it back out. The orc tried to turn around to attack him, but it collapsed the moment it put weight on its injured leg. Bell took the chance to jump up and plunge the sword right into its chest. It let out one last dying roar before it disappeared in a puff of ash. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, it took way more energy to kill this monster than any other did.

Another roar caught his attention and he turned to the side to see another orc walking up. He wasn't going to run all the way over there just to kill it when he was still getting used to fighting one. So instead, Bell decided he would just kill it from a distance. Holding up his arm, he took aim and readied his body for the recoil.

"Fire-!" He began to say before he was cut off by a flash of blue. One moment the orc was roaring at him, the next it was standing there quietly with its head chopped off. It toppled to the ground and disappeared to reveal Sonic looking at the spot with curiosity.

"You know, they're surprisingly easy to cut through despite having so much meat" he pondered to himself before turning to the boy, "Sorry if I stole your kill. I figured it be fair since you already got one"

"Don't worry about it, just try to leave the ones I fight to me"

"No guarantees" With that, the two went on a small rampage of killing every orc they could find. Once he got used to them, Bell found it easier to kill the monsters and were able to kill some in one shot with his magic. Sonic on the other hand was just flying past them. All monsters in his path were easily sliced in half while others found their heads caved in with a kick. This went on for a few minutes before the two of them decided to take a quick break.

"Wow, I can't believe that I'm strong enough to kill these monsters. I thought it would take much more effort to beat just one of them" Bell said in slight awe.

"Well you have been getting strong pretty fast. When I first came here, you were having problems with the monsters on the first five floors. Now you are taking these giants on with ease. I'm pretty proud of you, all that training was worth it" Sonic said while lightly punching the boy in the arm.

"Yeah, we should take a break while Lily collects the magic stones. Hey Lily, we're finished over here!" Bell yelled over his shoulder. To his surprise, he was answered with complete silence. In fact, she wasn't anywhere to be seen when they looked at the spot she was just standing at, "Umm, where's Lily? You don't think a monster got her?"

"Probably not, I definitely would have heard her scream if she did run into a monster"

"Just use that nose of yours and sniff her out. Surely you can track her scent" Caliburn drawled with a hint of snark. Muttering about not being some sort of bloodhound, Sonic took a large sniff of the air…

Only to immediately cover his nose and start gagging. The other two jumped a little at the sudden reaction and looked at the hedgehog in confusion and concern, "Dear Chaos, What the hell is that smell?!" Whatever scent was in the air was an abomination that shouldn't be allowed to exist. It smelled like someone took rotten flesh and mixed it in with every other disgusting smell possible.

""Now that you mention it, it does smell pretty bad here. Where is it coming from though?" Bell muttered while covering his nose.

"I think those might be responsible" Caliburn pointed, hopping right next to at object in the grass. The other two walked over and looked at what the sword was referring to. It was some sort of deformed ball, sickly lumps all over it with a dark liquid oozing out of it. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that this wasn't the only one as there were several laid across the ground.

"The hell is that? Does the dungeon like to make people suffer because this is just cruel" Sonic commented while casting a disgusted on all of them. He just wanted to find Lily and get out of there so he could breathe normally without feeling the urge to throw up.

On the other hand, Bell's face paled considerably as he seemed to recognize what the object they were looking at, "Monster Lures?! Why are those things here?!"

"Lures?" Caliburn and Sonic asked in surprise. As if to answer their question, another deep growl was heard. This time, several pairs of glowing red eyes appeared in the fog. One by one, multiple orcs began to walk towards them, each of them coming from a different direction. Some of them had grabbed nearby landforms while others opted to use their bodies as sufficient killing instruments.

"Okay...that just happened. So if those things are meant to attract monsters, that means someone must have set up a trap for us. But I definitely don't remember seeing these when we first came down here" Sonic said as he eyed each of the monsters with suspicion.

"That means whoever set this up must have done so while we were killing the monsters here" Bell added while tightening the grip on his sword.

"Considering how we haven't seen nor heard any other party or person here so far, that means the culprit must be-"Caliburn began to say with widened eyes before he was cut off by a whistling sound. Before any of them could react, three arrows were sent flying right towards them at fast speeds. The first two sliced sliced apart the straps that held Bell's pouch and the third arrow skewered the falling bag and quickly reeled it back. The bag flew through the air and fell into the waiting hands of Lily, who was crouching on the ledge that led to the stairwell to the previous floor.

"Lily?! What the hell are you doing?!" Bell yelled in absolute shock before having to dodge an upcoming swing. The orcs decided that this was the perfect moment to attack them as all of them had charged forward with loud roars. Bell was forced to duck, dodge, and weave through multiple attacks and was knocked down by a few that found its mark, only to get right back up to avoid another.

"Sorry Master Bell and Master Sonic, But this is the end for you" Lily called out from above, "He told you, didn't he? If only you never learned the truth about me, you might have actually lived"

Bell tried to run in the direction of the stairs that led to the ledge, but he was knocked back by an orc that had blindsided him. With Sonic, he was staring at Lily with an expression of complete surprise and shock. He was dodging the monster with relative ease, but he didn't attack any of them in favor of just looking at his betrayer.

"I need to go, do what you two can to survive and get out of here. Goodbye you two, and good luck" Lily said before standing back up and began jogging up the stairs to floor nine. She kept her head down as she tuned out the monster's roars and Bell's screaming for her name. With one last look, she disappeared up the stairs and left the two adventurers to their fate.

"Wow...I never expected that to happen" Sonic muttered in surprise. He knew that Lily wasn't the airheaded girl that she acted like and had done some pretty suspicious stuff, but he wasn't expecting a full out betrayal on this scale. Luring them to the tenth floor and setting up a trap for them to die in while robbing them. While it was a bit impressive how much planning went into it, he still was caught off guard a little.

"Sir Sonic! Can't you focus for one second?!" Caliburn shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry about that. Just lost in my thoughts" he apologized while ducking under another swing and this time slashing the orc in the stomach, bisecting it in half.

"Now that I have your attention, we need to go after that supporter. Not only did she steal the Knave's knife, she also assumed that we that we are too weak to handle this. That is a stain upon my honor that I will not accept"

"Yeah, that kinda is what anyone would do. But we also have to take care of these monsters. We can get passed them easily, but any person or group that passes through here might not be as skilled or as lucky. I can take all of them down in about a minute or less" Sonic said while looking around. While there was a lot of monsters attacking them, he could tell that there were even more behind them by the figures shifting around the front line. Just as he was about to blaze through them, he was interrupted by Bell appearing right in front of him.

"Hold on!" He said while firing another Firebolt at an orc, "Let me handle them. You go after Lily, I'm sure you can catch up to her quickly"

"What?! Are you crazy, that's an entire horde of huge monsters there! You'll get overwhelmed eventually, what are you thinking, trying to fight them yourself?!"

"Because I need to prove that I can do this! I want to go after Lily, but I also don't want to back down from this. If I want to become stronger, I need to face each challenge in my way head on. So please, go make sure Lily is safe!"

Sonic stared at the boy with even more surprise than before. By all logic, he should just ignore the boy and take down the monsters himself. He knew that he could handle it, he himself have been in much more dangerous situations. Bell on the other hand was just a rookie who only started a few weeks ago. While those facts were literally screaming in his head, there was one thing that turned out all the others. The look in his eyes, they were the same exact look he would see himself have whenever he would look into the reflection of a robot's armor when he charged into a fight. It was the look of pure determination, the unwavering will to stand up against any challenge that life throws at you, no matter how daunting. He didn't know if his decision was the right one, but he definitely knew it was the one he believed in.

"Alright, you got me there. It'd be hypocritical of me to stop you. I'll go chase after Lily, but not without a little fun of my own" Sonic said with a large grin on his face. Before Bell could react, Sonic had shoved Caliburn into his hands and then both of them to the ground. He then jumped up onto one of the landforms and activated his magic. Instead of using Red Burst like last time, he chose something that covered a larger area. His body quickly turned into a pale yellow ball that had his eyes glowing yellow without pupils and a tail that resembled a lightning bolt. Electricity crackled around, humming with power that was just waiting to be released. With one push, several bolts of lightning shot out from him and struck the highest targets it could find, which were the other landforms and the orcs. While the trees remained mostly intact with only a few burn marks, the monsters were severely electrocuted with thousands of bolts of electricity. Their bodies glowed yellow as they convulsed erratically with no control over their limbs. After a few moments, the monster that were struck exploded into ash, leaving nothing but there magic stones. While not all of them were hit, the attack had taken out a large chunk of them.

The moment lightning stopped zapping everywhere, Sonic had quickly dashed forward while changing into another color ability. This time, he became a pink ball that had several long spikes protruding around his body. Long ago, the hedgehog remembered his fox friend comparing this form to a sea urchin and had given him the most painful noogie yet when he then called him 'Sonic the Sea Urchin'. The ball of spikes rolled across the ground quickly and rammed into the wall that led up to the ledge where the stairs were situated on. Instead of bouncing off like the rules of physics suggest, he clung to the surface and began scaling it with extreme ease. It only took a few seconds to reach the top and to transform back into his normal form.

Turning around, Sonic let out one last shout before zooming off, "You better not die on me! Not after being so confident, I'll hold it over your head till the day I die!"

Bell and Caliburn had just processed everything that had happened during the past few seconds and were now staring at the spot where the hedgehog was just at.

"That fool! Leaving you by yourself just because you asked, you're lucky he had a good enough sense to leave me with you and lessen your load!" Caliburn ranted, though there was no hiding the smirk on his face.

"It is what it is, he has his promise to keep while I have mine. I can't lose this now, especially since that means wasting the faith he put in me. This is a competition that I will come back from to show that I won!" Bell said while sheathing his sword and gripped Caliburn in both hands. Despite being more proficient in using a knife, their training spars included teaching him to wield different weapons. If he didn't count the Hestia Knife, Caliburn would have been the weapon he was the most comfortable with. With one last glance at each other, the boy charged into the horde of monsters with a battle cry and a grin that filled his entire face.

…

Panting slightly, Lily continued her fast running speed while also keeping alert for any monsters. She had seen many adventurers die because they weren't paying attention to their surroundings. She already made it this far, she couldn't allow herself to lose everything she has done to a stupid mistake.

_Though that is what those two did_, she thought ruefully. They placed their trust in her way too easily. That combined with them learning about her from that man already sealed their fate before they had the chance. It was a shame though, she actually considered placing her trust in them the same way they had. But they were adventurers in the end, and all adventurers must suffer for their actions.

As those thoughts passed through her head, her eyes traveled to the spot where she was keeping the knife she just stole. While the old gnome might have said it was just a dull and useless blade, she knew there was more to it. Engraved on the side was the name of the Hephaestus Familia, that alone increasing the value of it. The amount of money she could make by selling it would get her closer to her goal, maybe enough to actual do it. With all the money she had been saving up, she'll finally achieve the one goal that helps her get through the day.

Leaving that damned familia.

She hadn't chosen to join the Soma Familia, her parents were members and she became one by default when she was born. Only a few short years later, both her mom and dad died down in the dungeon. She had to work at a very young age just to be able to feed herself and live. Being an adventurer was out of the question due to how physically weak most prums are, so she worked as a supporter for other adventurers. What soon followed was what she could best describe as hell. Every single adventurer she has ever worked with was a cruel, selfish, and greedy monster that would trample on the weak to gain benefits for himself and only himself. Insulting her, beating her, throwing rocks at her when she's down and just treating her like she was less than a person. As a prum, she didn't have the strength to fight back and they exploited that whenever they could. She would sometimes try running far away to start a new life where she could finally have some happiness, but they would always find her eventually and mercilessly destroy it. That was why she hated adventurers, and why she vowed to leave that familia no matter what it takes, even if it means sacrificing others.

"Those two must be dead by now. It's a shame I couldn't sell that talking sword, it would have definitely earned me enough to buy myself out and have extra to buy an actual home" she muttered to herself almost jokingly.

"I would agree, but I'm not sure if someone would be willing to buy a sword that won't shut up" A voice answered from ahead. Lily froze on the spot as she snapped her head up to see who just spoke. To her utter horror, Sonic was standing just a few feet away from her, having a very unamused expression on his face.

"M-Master Sonic?! What are you doing here?!" She asked in disbelief. She saw him get surrounded by all those orcs back there, he shouldn't have even been alive. In fact, how did he get past her without her noticing. She knew he was fast, but that speed was impossible for a level one.

"Just trying to catch up with the supporter that stole from us and left us to die," he said. While he wasn't as angry as a normal person should be, he was still very annoyed that she tried to kill them.

"But, where's Master Bell?! Did you abandon him just to chase after me? Did you sacrifice him just to get revenge?!"

"Stop sounding like I left him to do everything himself. I already killed some of the orcs so he could handle the rest" he brushed off casually before turning back to her, "More importantly, you have something that belongs to us and I'm gonna have to take it back" With that, he began walking towards her. Lily immediately started to back up quickly in fear. This was going to be just like those other times, when her victims caught up to her and brutally got their revenge. The amount of pain and injuries they have given her then was excruciating, and she wasn't going to go through that again. Reaching into her cloak, she pulled out a small glowing knife. It was rather simple in design with no patterns etched onto it, but it made up for its blandness with its bright red coloring. Most of the blade was red while the center changed into a bright orange and yellow color.

"Stay back" she whimpered in fear. This was her last resort if she ever got into a dangerous situation, and this qualified as a dangerous situation, "Stay back, stay back, stay back!" With a yell, she swung the blade as hard as she could in his direction. Despite being too far for the blade to hit him, that wasn't what this weapon was meant to do. These types of blades were known as Magic weapons, weapons that were built to replicate the power of offensive magic for those who couldn't utilize it. Three fireballs were conjured in the wake of the blade's swing and were sent flying to the hedgehog.

Sonic's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but he wasn't afraid of the attack coming right at him. In a flash of blue, he practically disappeared and reappeared past the fireballs as they flew into a wall harmlessly with a small explosion. Before Lily could even swing again, she felt the weapon get ripped from her hands and something gripping both of her wrists in a firm hold. She blinked and saw Sonic just a few inches away from her face with one hand holding the weapon away while the other had her wrists.

"Lily, calm down. There's no need to freak out and do something rash. I'm not going to hurt you, all I want is for you to apologize and to hand Bell back his knife" he said in a calm yet firm voice

"No! That's what they all say, all adventurers are the same! They always act nice before they turn on me after they get what they want! Let go, I don't want to go through that again!" Lily cried desperately as she struggled against his grip. She thrashed around wildly to wrench her hands free, but his grip hasn't budged slightly at all.

Sonic sighed as he looked at the sight in front of him. Instead of the calm and deceptive girl that had betrayed them barely a few minutes ago, all he saw was a desperate person who was afraid of being hurt again. It honestly saddened him that she could never accept kindness without being suspicious. He wanted to show her that she could actually trust them, but it was best to do that after Bell came back.

"C'mon, we're going back to check on Bell. He deserves to talk with you the most since you stole that weapon from him" He said with a resigned sigh. With little effort, he began to walk back in the direction of the tenth floor while dragging Lily behind him. She tried to pull away from him while pressing her feet into the ground to stop him, but all that lead to was her nearly stumbling forward and catching herself before she face planted into the ground. The entire time, she screamed and cried for him to let her go with him ignoring her and kept up his pace.

After some time of walking, the two had reached the entrance to the tenth floor. Right before they entered it, Sonic paused as he heard hurried footsteps echoing from the stairs. It only took a few moments for the source of the footsteps to reach the top of the stairs, which turned out to be a tired Bell holding Caliburn in his hand.

"Oh, you caught up to Lily. Great job Sonic" he said with a small sigh of relief.

"Forget what I did, you sure did a good job finishing off the rest of the monsters. I'm surprised you even finished this fast, I was expecting you to still be fighting" Sonic said with a impressed whistle.

"That's because the Knave didn't finish all of them by himself. An adventurer swooped in out of nowhere and dispatched the remaining monsters, a strong one as well considering how quickly they did it. The Knave ran off to find you two without properly thanking them" Caliburn explained while giving said person a pointed look.

"Anyway, are you alright Lily? I hope you weren't attacked by any of the monsters here, they can be dangerous if you're not careful"

"W-What?" Lily said in surprise. Instead of yelling at her for betraying them or hurting her for stealing from him, he was asking whether she was okay. Even if adventurers pretended to be nice to her, they would always show their true colors when she turned on them. Despite what she has done to them, she couldn't find a trace of anger or resentment on his face, "Why are doing this? Why are being nice to Lily after what she did to you?!"

"Lily, why wouldn't we be nice to you? Yeah, the whole stealing my knife was a bit annoying, but it's alright"

"No it isn't! Not only did I steal from you and left you to die, I've been doing horrible things since we first met! On the days you let me split the money, I would split so I would get more than you! When you asked me about the prices of items, I would tell you they costed double than they should have and pocketed the extra money for myself! I even stole that damn knife on the first day so so could make some extra money!" As Lily screamed out each confession, she had sunk to her knees and was on the verge of breaking down into tears. The three of them were watching her break down, patiently waiting for her to calm down, "There's so many awful things I've done to you and people before you! How have neither of you noticed all the things I have done this entire time?!"

"That's the thing, we have noticed what you were doing" Bell said with a sheepish smile. The dumbfounded looked of disbelief that passed over her face was nearly enough for Sonic to start laughing, which he restrained to not ruin the mood.

"Yeah, you're not as discrete as you thought you were. I knew you were splitting the money in your favor, so that's why I did it most of the time. The thing with the item prices was caught by Caliburn, he noticed the prices of those items whenever we would walk down the street, he's pretty observant for being a sword. As for the knife, we all sort of figured that out the day afterwards, even Bell noticed that the whole thing seemed off. The point is, we already know all the things you did with us" Sonic explained with a small grin.

"...If you already knew, then why? Why did you not say anything about it? You all could have called me out and fire me on the spot. Yet you decided to let me do all of those things to you, why?"

"Because we also noticed something about you. We could see what type of person you are in your eyes. All we saw was hatred, desperation, and most of all, loneliness. We were able to piece together that you wanted to earn enough money so you could leave your Familia. Lily, if you wanted help, you could just ask us. You don't have to worry about us hurting you, I promise that we'll help you if you ever need it. Just make sure you ask us instead of trying to rob us" Bell said with a kind smile.

That seemed to have been too much for her built up walls to handle as she fell into Bell's chest and started crying out apologies incoherently. He simply hugged her and rubbed her back comfortingly while Sonic patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. The group stayed like that for a few minutes until Lily's crying turned into quiet sobs.

"Bell, I'll go check up ahead and make sure the path is clear" Sonic whispered while gesturing behind him. With a nod, the hedgehog with Caliburn dashed off into the tunnel. There wasn't that many monsters around, the ones that were easily being killed with a quick slash. That was how it was at first, but as they went further in, they found that there were more and more monsters, primarily Killer Ants. Soon, he came across a clearing of sorts that was absolutely swamped with the huge insects.

"Why the hell is there so many monsters here? This is the first time I've seen so many in one place"

"If I were to guess, I would say that they were called here by a wounded ant. That advisor did say that's how many adventurers died down here, probably what happened here" Caliburn offered

"Yeah, I think that is what happened judging from the blood" Sonic said while pointing towards one of the branching tunnels that had a puddle of blood peaking out from inside, "Anyway, these things are blocking the way" Suddenly, Sonic just disappeared in a flash of blue. What appeared to be blue wind bouncing around the room, the hedgehog appeared back where he was just at. With one satisfied breath, he turned around and dashed back the way he came as every monster in the room exploded into ash.

When he got back, Lily had calmed down enough that she wasn't crying as she and Bell were walking to meet up with him.

"It's mostly good up ahead. I stopped at this room that was filled with monsters, but they were taken care of. We can handle any others that are further ahead"

"Thanks a lot for that. Are you ready to head back up Lily?" Bell asked.

"I'm ready Master Bell" Lily said with a genuine smile. Making the others smile as well, the group started their trek back to the surface.

**I know you might say something about not having the ambush scene, but this was the best way I could think of. I decided to have it that the Soma adventurers got impatient and decided to do the betrayal early. It was the same thing with orc fight, it was the only one the made sense and didn't cause huge story divergences. As always, leave a review for you opinion on the story and what you want to see be added. I'll see you all next time and Happy Halloween!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Quick author notes, thanks you TheBeatles21 for you review and I would like to say you're right. Tails is going to focus more on developing and learning things with characters like Asfi and Riveria. I hope all of you are excited for when these characters will finally make an appearance. Now, onto the story.**

"So, you _can _use transformation magic" Sonic said in interest, but his tone suggested that he wasn't too surprised.

"Yeah, it really helped have many adventurers hire me without recognizing who I was" Lily explained with a small bit of pride.

The group were now walking through a part of the city with lots of old buildings. Most of the structures were either crumbling or had already fell apart some time ago. Incidentally, it was also the same place where the Hestia Familia home was located.

After they had left the dungeon, they had a talk with Lily about she did. She explained to them all of the things she has done before meeting them, how she betrayed and robbed countless adventurers for their items. While they were surprised by how large of a scale it was on, they still forgave her as she had gotten desperate.

"But still, it's impressive how your magic works. The ears look so real" Bell said. He was actually tempted to touch them just to see how real they felt, but he quickly withheld his temptation when he saw Sonic giving him a look while subtly raising his hand. The smack from before was something he didn't want to experience again.

The plan now was for Lily to keep up her transformed appearance whenever she was above ground so her familia wouldn't be able to find. She wanted to lay low for some time until they thought she just died in the dungeon. Before they could do any of that, they had to talk with Hestia first. She had asked them to bring Lily so she could talk with her.

Soon, they had arrived at the abandoned church where they lived. When they entered, they found that Hestia was already waiting for them outside the door to the basement area.

"Oh, there you guys are" she said after she noticed them. Her gaze landed and narrowed on Lily with scrutiny, "And you must be the supporter they were talking about"

"Y-Yes ma'am" Though Lily was slightly unnerved by her glare, she kept up a focused expression as she looked right back at the goddess.

"Okay, I'll go make us some tea while you two talk" Bell said before opening the hidden door and walking down the stairs with Sonic and Caliburn trailing after him. The two girls took one last lance at the door before returning their gazed back onto each other.

"So, let's just jump right to the point. Do you promise to never pull off something like that ever again?"

"I promise, Master Bell and Sonic showed Lily kindness. Despite what I did, they forgave me without any resentment. I will never do anything to betray their generosity ever again" Lily said with a determined nod.

"You say that, but who isn't to say you won't get desperate in the future?" Hestia asked, "To be honest, I don't really like you"

Lily flinched at her blunt words. While she already made peace with them, she still felt guilty about everything she did. They had shown her nothing but kindness and she pays them back by leaving them in a trap that they were intended to die in. No matter how much she tries to ignore it, that had left a mark on her conscience.

"Let me guess, you're feeling guilty since they forgave you easily after what you did. I am a bit annoyed myself about how they already knew of your thieving ways and still decided they wanted to help you. If it were me, you would have to much more than just apologize for me to forgive you"

As she continued her lecture, Hestia was observing the girl for how she would react. As she expected, the supporter kept shrinking in on herself and her ears began to droop until they laid flushed against her hair. The girl seemed to have realized how much of a horrible thing she has done. While she wanted to keep driving the point in, she decided that she had learned her lesson.

"That being said, if you want to earn my forgiveness...then make sure those two are safe" Lily looked up in surprise at her words, like she must have heard them wrong, "This whole thing proves they could end up in serious trouble if another person like you shows up. So I expect you to steer them away from those kind of people and to help them when you can. Only this can make me forgive you, so can you do it or is it too much to handle?"

"Lily can do it! Lily promises that she'll protect Master Bell and Sonic with her life!" Lily declared with a determined expression. She already let them down once, but it was never going to happen again.

"Good, and there is one more thing-"Hestia was starting to say before she was interrupted by the door opening again. Bell walked out carrying a tray with two tea cups, a bowl, and a tea kettle on it. Sonic had a bowl of his own in his hand and seemed to have been drinking something from it, most likely tea judging from the steam coming from the bowl, while holding an annoyed Caliburn in the other.

"Sorry if we took some time, there was a little difficulty with making the tea" Bell explained while setting the tray down. The little difficulty he was referring to was just Caliburn arguing about the way he made tea. Sonic had to grab and restrain the sword from jumping in and attempting to make tea himself. The moment Bell sat down, Hestia immediately lunged forward and hugged his arm tightly. That action took both him and Lily surprise as they watched the goddess hold herself close to the boy. Sonic and Caliburn were also a bit surprised, but their expressions were more of exasperation than shock.

"Thanks for the tea, Bell! Also, your supporter and I had a real long talk and she said that she'll take real good care of you guys!" Hestia said with a bright smile. Then, she glanced towards Lily with a very smug look on her face that practically said, 'Find some other guy, this one's mine'.

"And you say I'm unreasonable" Caliburn said with a small smirk.

"That point still stands, but she is being so dramatic about this. It's literally Amy all over again" Sonic muttered before turning to Lily, "Sorry about her behavior Lily, she tends to be like this. Just ignore her for now and you'll get use to-" Before he could even finish, he cut off by being hit right in the face by a thrown coat. He was nearly knocked and he only managed to stay upright by taking a few steps back to balance him. Removing it from his face, he quickly noted that it was the same coat that Lily was wearing. As he looked up to argue with the girl for the ride action, his expression turned from annoyance to disbelief and then to more annoyed exasperation.

Lily was now at Bell's side, hugging his arm exactly like Hestia was doing. With her brown coat removed, her clothes were just a red and white shirt that showed her stomach and short of the same color scheme.

"But of course, I'll make sure Master Bell has everything he could ever ask for!" Lily proudly stared with a wide smile. She herself had developed a crush on Bell after what had happened on floor ten, he was one of the first people to ever show her true kindness. If some tried getting between them, even if it was a goddess, then she would fight tooth and nail to earn his love.

As the two girls were glaring at each other with figurative sparks flying between them, Bell was trying his best to keep his calm. He didn't know why his goddess and Lily were clinging onto his arms or looking like they were about to start a brawl, but the situation was starting to get too tense for him. So naturally, he did what any rational person would do in this situation.

"Sorry got to go!" He shouted as he bolted out of the church. The two girls barely had enough time to realize what had happened before he was already out of the building. Sonic just looked at Bell's retreating back, gave a resigned sigh that sounded like he was too tired to deal with this, and quickly followed after him with the sword trailing behind him as well.

"(Master)Bell, Come back!" Both Hestia and Lily shouted. After a few seconds, they turned back to each other and started to argue, actual sparks starting to form around them.

Outside, Sonic and Caliburn had caught up to Bell and were now going at a jogging pace. None of them said a word as each of them were contemplating what had just happened and why it happened.

"...so, what should we do while those two are going at it?" Sonic asked, having heard the faint sound of arguing back in the direction of the church.

"I was thinking about seeing Miss Eina, I do owe her an apology for losing the protector" Bell said while rubbing his forearm. During his fight with the orcs, the jade armor piece had fallen off and dropped somewhere on the ground. He hadn't noticed until they had exited the dungeon and Sonic pointed it out. They couldn't turn back just to go look for it and there was a chance that a passing adventurer might have found it pocketed it for themselves. So now, he was planning on apologizing to Eina for losing the gift she gave to him.

Soon, they had reached the guild building and walked right in. Just like always, it was filled with both adventurers and employees who were helping those adventurers. Despite that, a quick glance around the reception desks showed that Eina was nowhere to be seen.

"That's odd, where's Miss Eina?" Bell muttered in confusion. The three looked around to see if she was around, but they were stopped when a voice called them.

"Bell? Sonic?" Eina said in surprise. The two boys turned around to see her sitting down at the couch area of the guild. Sitting in front of her was this girl with long blonde hair which they didn't recognize, but felt they had seen before. It was only when she turned around that they realized why it had felt familiar, the Sword Princess Aiz Wallenstein was staring at them with a look of both curiosity and surprise.

Sonic and Caliburn had a brief look of surprise, but they weren't caught off guard by her. They had talked to her once and found that she didn't act like some arrogant adventurer, but was more quiet and reserved. Instead, small smirks formed on their faces as they watched Bell for his inevitably amusing reaction.

Just as they thought, Bell was frozen on the spot. He looked like a deer in headlights, or a rabbit if you considered his appearance. His mouth was slack jawed while the rest of his body was shaking in place. No one moved for a few moments as they stared at each other, waiting for one of them to make a move.

Ironically, Bell was the one to break the silence. With robotic like movements, he slowly began to take a few steps back away from them. He turned his body so that it was facing the door and when he was ready, he then made a mad dash for the exit like the devil himself was on his heels. Though before he could get even two steps away, something grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back. Between him running and the force pulling him back, the force was stronger as he was yanked to the floor and fell on his butt. Turning around, Bell saw that Sonic was the one grabbing into his shirt, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face.

"Now Bell, it's rude to run away from people when they simply want to talk to you" Sonic said in a patronizing tone while also trying not to burst out laughing.

"B-But I-I s-She" Bell mumbled incoherently with his face starting to turn a bright shade of red while struggling in his grip. It was clear that he didn't want to be here and it was because of that that he wouldn't get any mercy.

"Let's go talk with the two ladies so you can apologize for being rude. I'm sure they want to have a long conversation with you" Sonic said, not even trying to hide his snickering anymore. With that, he began to walk over to where Eina and Aiz were sitting while dragging Bell behind him like some sort of toddler. While he may have been a bit hypocritical for stopping Bell as he himself would run away from Amy all the time, Aiz acted nothing like her so he should be fine.

"Hey Eina, Aiz, Sorry his rude behavior, he tends to be shy around new people" he joked while having an apologetic expression.

The two girls were still staring at both of them in mute surprise. From Bell trying to run away to Sonic stopping and dragging him to them while acting like a parent, they couldn't find the right words to describe how bizarre the entire thing was.

"Umm, it's alright?" Eina said with some hesitation and confusion, "Miss Wallenstein was just asking me to let her talk with you two. I can go somewhere else if you want some privacy"

"Thank you Miss advisor, we shall handle things from here" Caliburn said, finally able to properly talk without bursting out into laughter. With that, the advisor stood up and walked back to the reception desks up in the front, but not without casting one wary glance at them before heading back to her job. Sonic then lifted Bell off the ground and adjusted him so that he was standing up. After making sure he wouldn't fall over or make another attempt for the exit, he walked over and flopped down on the couch with a relaxed sigh.

"So, What does the mighty Sword Princess want to talk to us about?

"Well, I was hoping to talk Bell" she said quietly before turning towards the boy, "You fought some orcs down on the tenth floor, is that right?"

"Y-Yes ma'am, but how do you know about that?" Bell asked stiffly, still feeling a little flustered by being addressed by her. After what happened on floor five, he was embarrassed to even talk to her after he ran away from her a second time.

"I found this, I believe it belongs to you," she said while reaching behind her. From the back of her seat, she pulled out a piece of armor that was the color jade and seemed to be meant to be strapped to someone's forearm. They instantly recognized it the moment she showed it.

"My protector! If you have it, then that means you were the one that finished off the rest of the monsters" he said in awe. So she saved him again, just like she did with the minotaur. While he was able to handle most of them on his own, the last few were more difficult due to how exhausted he was.

"Yes, I would also like to apologize" Aiz said before standing up to face Bell, "If it weren't for me and my familia, you would have never been chased by that minotaur and almost been killed. So for that, I am sorry" Right afterwards, she bowed low in front of him.

"Huh? You don't need to apologize Miss Aiz, it wasn't your fault with the minotaur! I owe you my life for saving be back on the fifth floor! And if anything, I should be apologizing for always running away from you instead of thanking you! I am so sorry!" Bell quickly said before bowing even lower. Aiz seemed a bit surprised by the sincere apology, but she was more focused on something else. After trying to find him for days, she was finally able to apologize for what happened. When Bell looked back up, he saw that there was a small smile adorning her face. He let out his own smile and a little laugh as he blushed.

"Well wasn't that just adorable?" A voice asked from the side, slightly startling Bell. He had forgotten that his two friends were in the same area and had just watched the entire thing happen, "So now onto other things, is there anything else we can help you with Aiz?"

"Actually Yes, I wanted to thank you again for saving me back at Monsterphilia, those plant monsters were giving us some trouble"

"No problem, I was passing by and saw that you guys needed help. Just glad none of you got too injured like your elf friend" Sonic casually brushed off like it was nothing.

"Hold on, you saved Miss Aiz?!" Bell asked incredulously. He knew his teammate was strong, much stronger than himself, but to be strong enough to save the Sword Princess was unbelievable.

"I wouldn't consider it saving like I saved her life, more like I helped her out in a tough situation. The monsters they were fighting weren't all bark, they actually put up a somewhat decent challenge"

"Amazing, I wonder if I can ever get that strong?" Bell whispered to himself.

"Sure you can if you keep up our training! If I can learn to expertly wield a sword in a few days, so can you" Once again, Bell was caught by surprise by how he was able to hear him. Sonic did mention once that his senses were way more sensitive than a normal person, so he probably should have expected that.

"Hold on, are you saying that you trained him? Is that how you two were able to reach the tenth floor so quickly?" Aiz asked in both surprise and curiosity.

"While the quick growth seemed to be the Knave's doing, we have been teaching him the basics of fighting for sometime. Goodness knows how much of an amateur he would have been without our assistance" Caliburn sighed dramatically, finding amusement in Bell's indignant expression while Sonic let out a few snickers.

""I agree, he has made a lot of progress in skill with us teaching him. Just look, he's able to stand in the same room as Aiz without running away screaming" Sonic pointed out with a smirk.

"Hey!" Bell shouted in embarrassment. Even if it was true, he didn't have to say it out loud.

As the three bickered like how good friends would, Aiz was in deep thought about what they had told her. If Bell, a rookie who had grown leaps and bounds from the minotaur incident in a unprecedented amount of time, was trained by Sonic, who was unnaturally strong for being a level one like his advisor told her, then there must have been something unique about the training. If that training they did had the same effect on anyone who did it, then she would be able to quickly become stronger. Besides, she wanted to see how the boy was growing at the rate he was and whether his friend had any connection to the red hair tamer, who shared many similarities with their unnatural strength and anonymity.

"Excuse me, But is it alright if I help train him?" Aiz asked. The three stopped their arguing and simultaneously turned their heads to look of her in surprise.

"Really Miss Aiz, but why? I really appreciate the offer, but why do you want to help train? We're just level one adventurers, you're way stronger than we are"

_Debatable_, Sonic thought to himself.

"I thought that we could spar and I would critic your skills. Besides, consider it as making up to you for the minotaur"

"Well, I got just got replaced" Sonic muttered to himself in a small chuckle. Even if she was basically taking over his spot as Bell's trainer, he could still learn a lot from her, "In that case, so I guess you'll be joining us in our training. Do you have any ideas on where we're gonna do it, cause our goddess probably wouldn't like us being with a person who was in a Familia she doesn't like?"

Aiz seemed to ponder on it for a few seconds before turning back to them, "The city walls are usually empty early in the morning, they should allow us to train without being seen. We can meet at the south east section of the wall"

"Perfect, we'll see you tomorrow at the wall, make sure you're not late. See ya later Aiz" Sonic chirped with a wave.

With one last bow, Aiz turned around and walked out of the guild, pondering on how she was going to train them. As the three watched her walk out, Caliburn let out a small sigh.

"How on earth did this trip to apologize to your advisor end up with the Sword Princess promising to train the Knave?" He asked.

"That's just how life works, full of surprises. It's honestly one of the best parts of life" Sonic replied with a smile before turning back to Bell, "So, are you ready to see what Aiz has for you?"

"Yeah! I can't believe that _Aiz Wallenstein _is going to train us! Imagine how much she could teach us with her experience as a first class adventurer?!" Bell gushed with immeasurable amount of enthusiasm. You could literally see sparkles coming off him.

"I swear, Bell is always going act like a little kid in a candy store for stuff like this"

"I agree, but there is something else that worries me. Are you prepared to wake so early just to attend their training?" Caliburn asked with some amusement in his tone.

"Pfft! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, it's going to take more than a little tiredness to slow me down!" Sonic declared with a cocky smirk.

**The next morning...**

"I hate this" Sonic said with exhaustion and grumpiness evident in his tone.

"Told you so!" Caliburn remarked while cackling in joy.

The group of three were jogging through the streets way early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet and the streets were completely bare of any sign of life as everyone was usually still asleep at this time. This how early Aiz wanted them to train, or how early Bell thought she wanted as he had forced them to wake up. While Bell and Caliburn seemed to be wide awake, one having too much anxiety to sleep for long and the other not even needing sleep, Sonic just wanted to go back to sleep. He was in the middle of a great dream about an entire valley being full of chili dogs when he was abruptly awoken by the boy. Naturally, his disrupted sleep had caused him exhaustion and a bit more crankiness than he usually had.

"Bell, was it really necessary to wake up this early? I know Aiz seems to be the type of person to wake up early, but this is unreasonably early"

"Sorry, I was just too excited to train with her. I've always looked up to her ever since she saved me from the minotaur, can you blame me for being a little impatient?" Bell apologized.

"No, but don't be surprised if I take a nap while she trains you" Sonic warned with a flat tone. Both Bell and Caliburn let out a few chuckles at the hedgehog's annoyance.

While they were talking, they had shifted their focus off their surroundings. It was because of the that Bell didn't see person running from the side of the intersection they were crossing. He and the person crashed into each other and fell to the ground.

"Owww" The girl whined as she held her head in pain.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention! Let me help you up" Bell said right after he stood up, extending his hand out for the girl.

"Oh, thank you" The girl said as she grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her up. One of the things that the two of them noticed immediately were the two long pointed ears at the side of her head. They were like Eina's, but more pointed and longer, showing that she was a full elf instead of half. Besides that, she had blonde hair that was a shade of orange tied in a ponytail. Her clothes were pink and frilly, just like how a rich noble's daughter would wear. In her hands was a staff with a single jewel at the top surrounded by what appeared to be flower petals.

"Are you alright? That was a pretty heavy fall?"

"I'm alright, thank you for asking. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings before running in the dark" she brushed off. It was nice to actually find an adventurer who wasn't a jerk, she had ran into plenty of them many times before. While the human boy in front of her was still looking at her in concern, a blue animal person and a sword that was somehow floating upright seemed to be trying to remember something that- Wait, blue animal person?, "I remember you! You helped us back at Monsterphilia with those plant monsters!"

When she said that, Sonic and Caliburn's eyes widened a bit as they realized why the girl looked so familiar to them, "Yeah, and weren't you that girl that got injured by them, was it Lefiya? Anyway, are you feeling alright from that? You were bleeding a lot when we saw you"

"I'm doing fine, all I needed was a potion and some rest. Anyway, I never got to thank you for your help. I saw how you saved Miss Aiz from being attacked by those monsters and I wanted to thank you"

"Seriously Sonic? How many people did you save back then?" Bell asked in surprise.

"Like I said, it less of saving and more of helping them. Anyways, it was her, Aiz, and two amazons that were with them. Their goddess showed up after the fight, but that's really it" Sonic said with a shrug.

"Oh right, I almost forgot! Have either of you seen Miss Aiz? I noticed her running over here, but I don't know where she is" Lefiya asked, remember Ming why she had been running. She had been planning to ask her something, but she noticed Aiz sneaking out of the manor before running off. Even if it was wrong to snoop, she couldn't help but be curious by what she was doing.

Bell immediately tensed up and sweat soon began to run down his face. The same way he couldn't tell his goddess, Aiz probably also couldn't tell her familia that she was training someone in a different familia. Though Sonic and Caliburn were probably feeling as nervous as he was, they were much better at schooling their expressions to be neutral.

Unfortunately, his own expression was enough to give it away. Lefiya noticed his nervousness and had a brief look of confusion. But then as she thought more about it, it slowly shifted to a more suspicious one, "You know where Miss Aiz is, don't you?"

"W-what, I have no idea where Miss Wallenstein is" Bell stammered as convincingly as he could. It had the opposite effect that he wanted as Lefiya looked even more suspicious. Even with their difference in height, he was starting to cower under the scrutinizing look she was giving him. As a member of the Loki familia, she was probably a higher level than him, meaning she could easily beat him in a fight and force him to tell her. So with all of this in mind, he decided to go with the most natural way to deal with a situation like this.

Which was running away.

"SORRY GOTTA GO!" He shouted before dashing away like a scared rabbit. Lefiya stood there, staring off in the direction he had ran in with a dumbfounded expression. Sonic on the other hand, was shaking his head exasperation for his friend.

"Great job Bell, now she definitely knows" he muttered sarcastically to himself, but he knew it would've happened anyway. The boy couldn't tell a lie to save his own life, and running away seems to be an instinctual reaction considering how many times he has done it. Either way, he wasn't in the mood to be interrogated, "Well, I should go catch up to him. Catch ya later!"

"Hey wait!" Lefiya shouted as she turned to stop him. When she looked at the spot he was standing at, all she saw was the bare street. She turned back and saw him dashing off with his sword while giving her a small salute. Fueled by her anger for them lying about where Aiz is, she began to chase after them while yelling curses.

What followed next was a game of cat and mouse throughout the streets. Sonic and Bell would take as many twists and turns as possible to escape while Lefiya tried to catch up to them. Sometimes, they would think that they lost her only for her to pop in out of nowhere and resume the chase all over again. It took several minutes for them to truly lose her and make their way back to their original destination.

When they reached the top of the wall, they found Aiz already standing there, looking off into the distance. She noticed them the moment they took a step as she turned in their direction.

"Oh, did something happen? You both look tired" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, we just spent that past few minutes trying to lose someone following us. That, and your friend Lefiya may be suspecting us of meeting up with you" Sonic said while jabbing his thumb behind him.

Aiz slightly winced at the new information. Even if she was a great friend that tends to be shy around other people, Lefiya can get quite intense when it comes to things regarding her. She had no doubt that she'll be muttering a storm of worries when she gets back, but that would come later.

"It's fine, I'll try asking her to not tell the others. Now, we have to focus on our training"

"Oh right! So Miss Aiz, What do you have planned for us?" Bell asked with barely contained excitement.

"I'm not to sure exactly, I was hoping that you could tell me how you two normally train and I can adjust how I would teach you around it"

"It is actually quite simple, Sir Sonic and the Knave would fight against each other while I would point out his flaws and how he should improve. Of course, I am in charge of lessons on swordsmanship while Sir Sonic covers physical training" Caliburn explained.

Aiz seemed to ponder for a little before coming to a decision. Reaching to her side, she unsheathes her blade Desperate from its sheath. It was a double edged rapier with a blue hilt and guard, rather simple in appearance. What made this blade special was that it was blessed with the Durandel attribute. No matter how much it's used, the weapon will never break or shatter. Placing the weapon to the side, she took her sheathe and wielded it just like a sword.

"In that case, we will fight. This will show me where you are in progress" Aiz said while shifting into laser precise focus. Bell nodded and pulled out his knife while slightly crouching. This quickly confirmed the training he had done as his stance was steady and prepared to dash forward instantly. There was a couple of flaws she could point out, but he was doing much better than most level one adventurers she had seen.

Pushing off, Bell dashed towards her and attempted to slash at her. All it took was a simple side step to avoid his attack, but what he did next surprised her a bit. The moment she dodged, he followed up the movement of his slash to spin around and try another attack from overhead. She leaned to the side and watched as the blade moved past her, but this time she wasn't going to let him attempt that again. She simply took her sheathe and lightly jabbed him right in the stomach, which he had left open with his spin attack. Even if it was considered light to her, it packed enough force to make him stumble back and almost fall over.

"Not bad, transitioning that attack to another was a good idea for opponents that dodge you, but keep in mind not to carelessly leave yourself open" she commented while he coughed a little from the blow to the guts.

"Right!" He shouted before charging at her again. This time, Aiz blocked each of his attacks with her sheathe. Despite it not being a conventional weapon, it was still more than enough to fend of a beginners weapon. Multiple clangs were heard with each strike as Bell continued his onslaught of swift slashes only for each of them to be deflected away.

Suddenly, he found his knife moving forward as it slashed through thin air. Almost on instinct, he spun around and raised his weapon to block an incoming attack. Sure enough, Aiz's sheathe slammed into the blade just as he expected, but he wasn't prepared for the force behind it as it easily overcame his and knocked him to the ground.

While the two were fighting, Sonic and Caliburn were standing off to the side observing the entire thing. They were speaking so quietly that any other person would have they were just mumbling, but they could clearly hear each other.

"Ouch, that's gotta sting" Sonic winced as he saw Bell get struck in the leg.

"That was nothing more than a love tap for her, he'll get used to it. More importantly, anything special you noticed about her fighting style?" Caliburn asked.

"Not much actually, it's like watching a human Percival fight. They have way too many similarities to brush off, even their weapons are nearly the same. I wonder who would win in a fight between the two though?"

"I agree, a warrior from one of the strongest familia against one of the three strongest knights of the kingdom, truly a fight for the ages"

The sound of another crash turned their attention back to the fight as they saw Bell and Aiz pushing against each other in a struggle for power, or more accurately Aiz easily holding Bell off while he tried pushing forward. With a single push, Bell was sent stumbling back and he barely managed to catch himself. Pausing to catch his breath, he thought about how he had been doing so far. The fact that he hadn't landed a single hit on her was a clear sign of the large gap between their strength and experience. Even so, he was determined to show her that he was strong enough to stand by her side.

With a yell, Bell charged forward once more. Aiz was slightly crouching in preparation to do something. If he was correct, she might try sidestepping him again and striking him the moment he misses. With that in mind, he prepared himself to attack at the sides the moment she moved. However, he was confused when she decided to do something else. Instead of stepping to the side, Aiz began to spin around on the heel of her foot. That and something coming towards him from the left was all he saw before he felt pain and everything went black.

Sonic and Caliburn both let out audible winces as they saw Aiz's heel collide with the side of Bell's face. While they thought she was going to dodge again, they were both shocked and surprised when she instead pulled off a swift roundhouse kick to the face. The boy was sent flying backwards and painfully crashed into the hard surface. After he didn't get up for a few seconds, they went over to him to check if he was okay.

"Jeez, you knocked him right out!" Sonic said after checking and confirming that he was unconscious, "I'm all for some hard hits to help train him, but that was just brutal!"

"Sorry, I got carried away" she apologized shyly.

"Save your apologies for when the Knave wakes up, he will definitely need it" Caliburn muttered. For a few moments, the three of them just sat there in total silence while waiting for Bell to wake. Then, Aiz seemed to have an idea as her eyes widened a bit which then turned into a look of unwavering determination. She stood up and walked over to the spot right in front of his head. Ignoring the curious looks the hedgehog and sword were giving her, she got sat down on her knees and adjusted herself. Then, she lightly grabbed Bell's head and pulled him over to her lap were she laid him down.

"...Umm, what are you doing and why are you doing that?" Sonic asked after trying to think of an explanation for nearly a minute.

"I'm allowing him to rest on my lap, Riveria said it was the best way to make up for what happened," she said with a straight face, like it was perfectly normal to do this.

"Are you saying that you asked your friend how to apologize to someone, and they said to give them a lap pillow!?" Caliburn asked with the most incredulous and gobsmacked expression Sonic had ever seen.

"No, she told me this when we found him passed out in the dungeon"

The two stood there in silence as they tried processing all of this new and confusing information. Whether the fact Aiz decided to just give Bell a lap pillow while he's unconscious is weirder than her doing it before when he was supposedly unconscious in the dungeon was on their minds and it yielded way more questions than answers.

Eventually, they decided not to waste any more mental energy trying to piece any of that together and to just wait for him to wake up, though Sonic would occasionally grumble about it. Several minutes later, Bell began to stir and his eyes slowly opened up.

"Are you okay?" Aiz asked from above him.

He seemed to still be in a daze as he hardly reacted to her close presence. Or rather, it took some time for his brain to register it when his eyes suddenly widened after a few seconds. With a scream, he pulled himself off and immediately backed away from her with embarrassment all over his face.

"Really Bell? Why do you always try to run from Aiz? It's not like there's anything about her that you should run away from, unlike _her_" Sonic sighed, muttering the last part quietly to himself.

"Sorry! I'm just not used to Miss Aiz doing that!" Bell apologized while bowing. Only Caliburn noticed the way Sonic's eye twitched in frustration, probably from the fact he confirmed Aiz's story and they still didn't know what happened.

"It's alright" Aiz brushes off, "I apologize for knocking you out, I forgot to weaken it for you. Anyway, we still have some time left, do you want to try again?"

"Actually, I would like to see how Sonic would do. He's much stronger than me, so he might put up a better fight"

"Oh yeah, I've been waiting for a chance to fight you since Monsterphilia! Let's see if that title of being a first class adventurer is just full of hot air or not!" Sonic said with a huge grin while grabbing Caliburn. Aiz nodded and walked to the spot where she placed her sword. She didn't want to risk damaging her sheath judging by how Caliburn appeared to be a strong weapon.

As the two turned to face each other, Aiz went over everything she knew about Sonic. He was obviously quite strong from how he was able to defeat those violas easily. If she were to judge how strong he was by level, he would have been a level 3 or 4 with some type of skill that increased his strength and agility. While a decent challenge, she could still easily beat him if she went all out. Though she couldn't help but feel he had some trick up his sleeve from how relaxed his stance was and the smirk on his face.

"So, are you going to start and should I do it?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aiz didn't say anything as her eyes narrowed in focus. Suddenly, she dashed forward in a blur of gold. Bell's eyes widened as he watched her practically disappear on the spot, but they widened even more at what happened next. A loud clang of metal clashing each other echoed out as Sonic easily blocked the attack and hardly budged an inch doing so. Aiz had a brief look of surprise, but quickly returned it to neutral as she pulled back and slashed at the hedgehog. The attack that zoomed through the air with enough power to shatter rock was easily batted off with a swing, and so was the next one, and the one after that.

Soon, the speed and intensity of their attacks increased and their weapons were just blurs as they clashed against each other. The two seemed to have been equally matched, but as Bell focused more on them, he could see that Aiz was being forced back slowly. Each strike was cause her to slid back a bit, and that meant she was literally walking backwards with how fast the hits were coming.

_How is he this strong?!_, Aiz thought in shock as she tried to block an attack from Sonic, only for her to move back from how strong the attack was. When she first attacked him, she was limiting her strength to around how a level 4 should be. Though it was a bit surprising when he easily blocked her, that didn't faze her as she tried attacking with slightly more power. Now here she was, pushing herself to the limit to hit as hard and as fast as she could, and he was somehow overwhelming her. Each of his attacks were strong enough to knock her back slightly and fast enough that he could both deflect each of her attacks and still land hits on her judging from the new scratches on her breastplate. It should have been impossible for a level one to keep up with her, let alone overpower her. This was basically the fight with the red hair tamer on floor eighteen all over again, but even she was able to fight evenly after leveling up. Perhaps he was a similar existence to that woman, but there wasn't enough evidence to prove he was affiliated with her. Until then, she had a fight to win.

"Tempest!" She shouted. A veil of wind was summoned and it surrounded her entire body and weapon. She could feel her Ariel magic enhance her strength and speed as it settled in. This was the fourth time she was forced to use her magic, two of them being with the tamer and the other being against the Monster Rex Udaues.

Sonic seemed a little surprised as Aiz was suddenly covered in wind and she was pushing against his slashes with more power than before, but the grin on his face never left the entire time. The moment he had blocked her attack, he knew that their spar was going to be fun.

Their weapons were blurring though the air while making a near continuous sound of clashing metal. Her attacks were quite fast and packed a lot of power behind them, but he knew he was stronger when he saw her being forced back. He had been waiting for a real challenge like this ever since he was thrown into this world, having to stick to the upper floors to help Bell was starting to get boring. Now, he could actually let loose and have some fun.

After quickly batting away another attack with more power, Sonic drove Caliburn into the ground and pushed himself up with one arm while angling his body perpendicular to the ground. All of this was done while Aiz was trying to stop her arm from moving back. With a powerful kick, Sonic's foot slammed into her gut and sent her sliding back several feet while gasping in pain. The moment she stopped, she looked up to prepare if he tried charging at her her. When she didn't see him anywhere near the spot he was just at, she quickly reacted by slashing in a wide arm behind her. What she wasn't expecting was for him to not be behind her. A light yet strong force suddenly struck the back of her legs and she soon found herself on the ground, looking up to the sky. Before she could get back up, something lightly poked her cheek. Looking over, it turned out to that Sonic was the source as he was crouching next to her while wearing a wide grin.

"I win. That was a good fight, I hadn't let loose like that in a while. Thanks for that by the way, let me help you up" he said while holding out a hand for her. She grabbed it and he pulled her up until she was able to stand.

"That certainly was an impressive spectacle. I'm sure the Knave would agree if he would stop gawking" Caliburn noted with a hint of amusement. The two looked over and the sword was correct with his statement as Bell was staring at them with utter disbelief, jaw hanging low. It brought a few snickers to the hedgehog, but Aiz was concerned with something else.

"How are you this strong? Your advisor said you were just a level one, so did you lie about your level or is it something else?" She demanded with narrowed eyes. If he was in any way connected to the tamer, then she had to notify Finn and the others as he was too strong to beat on her own.

"Not too sure, it might just a thing for our species. I was just as strong before I got the falna, and I did do a lot of fighting. The status probably doesn't account for past experiences" he answered truthfully. He had been born with his speed and his other skills came from constantly fighting Eggman or any other threats.

Aiz regarded him warily as she thought about what she would do. The fact that he was strong enough to beat her while she used her magic was greatly concerning, even more so because he didn't look remotely tired. If he was stronger than he showed in their fight, then the only person that could beat him was King Ottarl, the strongest adventurer in the city. She should just march over to Finn and tell him everything about this so they could make a plan on how to subdue him if he starts attacking the city.

But there was the other part of her brain that told her he was a good person. He had helped them with the plant monsters, meaning he either wasn't working with the tamer or was trying to gain their trust. Bell seemed to have a high opinion of him, almost looking up to him like a role model. Their advisor did describe him as a reckless daredevil who never takes things seriously, but always had good intentions. Considering both arguments, she decided on the best course of action.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. Let's focus back on training, we have some time left" she conceded. She would still be cautious around him, but that didn't mean he was immediately a enemy. She could use these training sessions to figure out how Bell was growing at the rate he was and how Sonic was more stronger than his level suggested. If this could help her become stronger, then she would keep training with them.

"Perfect, round 3! Your turn Bell!" Sonic shouted before suddenly lunging towards the boy. He barely had time to dodge before he was tackled to the ground.

"Hey, give me an actual warning next time!" Bell cried as he tried escaping from Sonic how was pinning him down.

"Must they be so immature?" Caliburn asked with a tired and exasperated groan.

Aiz let out a small smile as she beheld the scene in front of her. Even if she was doing this to become stronger, she definitely was going to enjoy her time here with them.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for not updating for so long. I was going through writer's block and most of the time was spent trying to figure out what to right. Plus with school keeping me busy, it was difficult writing this chapter. I will try to make sure that future updates aren't this long. Thank you for your patience and enjoy.**

Loki was now sure that something suspicious was going on. Despite how eccentric she was, her keen eye would pick up on the most subtle of details at a single glance. She would sometimes be able to predict exactly what a person was about to say next by their body language and facial expression, it made for very amusing moments seeing the dumbfounded looks on their faces. So when Aiz walked in one day, she noticed many things different.

It was a seemingly normal day, preparations for the upcoming expedition was underway and everything was going smoothly. Aiz walked into dining area and got her food before coming to sit down. Within the few seconds that she spent walking, Loki was able to pick out several abnormalities.

The most obvious thing was the damaged state of her armor which she was wearing for some reason. A couple of slash marks and dents that definitely weren't there the last time she checked. There were also small nicks along the side of her sheathe, which was odd since who would use a sheathe as a weapon? Something else was how she seemed to be a little tired from how her eyes looked slightly unfocused, though that could just be bad sleep or training exhaustion. What caught her off guard was how Aiz looked a little injured. Scuffs all over her body, a slight limp in her step, and even what appeared to be a very subtle bruise forming on her cheek. Considering all of the evidence, the most reasonable explanation was that she had a fight with someone, and someone quite strong. It couldn't have been any of the stronger members as they had all came here before Aiz. Was it another familia or did that red hair tamer instigate another fight?

"Hey Aiz, where were you? You always get here before us" Tiona pointed out as the girl sat down next to the amazon.

"I went out," she answered.

"Doing what?"

"Training" That was the last thing Aiz said before turning back to her food and tuning out any other questions asked.

_Truth, Truth_, At least that explains somethings. Gods had the ability to tell whether a mortal was lying, and Aiz was telling the truth with both statements. If it was training, it might have been with a Captain of a friendly familia like Ganesha or Hermes. That gave Loki some peace of mind and she decided not to worry about it that much. However, that wasn't the end of it.

For the next few days, Aiz has walked in with small injuries and damages to her gear. They started off being simple injuries like a few scratches and a small bruise, but they slowly kept getting worse with larger bruises and even some burn marks. There was one time she saw Aiz secretly drink a health potion just to heal herself. While that would have confirmed the intensity of her training, Loki had crossed off any captains being her sparring partner. With how early and frequent these training sessions were, no captain of a large familia would be able do them with how much paperwork they have and problems to deal with their familia. But that crossed off a large number of first class adventurers that were in Orario. The only people that were strong enough to injure Aiz were the captains of large familias and some members of the Freya familia and none of them would ever agree to help anyone of an enemy familia. So that raises the question, who was this mysterious adventurer that was fighting Aiz?

Loki was tempted to corner and interrogate her on every detail about the person, but there was one thing that was stopping her. With how intense the training seemed to be, she decided to update her status to see how much it was helping her. Aiz didn't seem that suspicious when she asked and quietly allowed her to do so. When she has taken off her shirt to reveal her back, Loki had to resist her perverted tendencies of trying to grope her in favor of focusing on her stats. Though when she did look at them, they were surprising enough to make her usually slit eyes widen a bit. Her numbers had increased by a larger margin than they usually did. Even if the increase weren't all that much, it was a huge deal for high class adventurers who's growth had slowed down to crawl.

She knew that Aiz was constantly pushing herself to become stronger, to the point of jumping into situations that are downright suicidal. The girl was just that determined, and no one could blame her. If she were to try and shut this down, Aiz might go back into that isolated shell of hers that they had worked so hard to pull her out of. Besides, some extra strength could help somewhat with the expedition.

"So, your stats went up more than usual. Been doing anything different lately?" Loki asked, handing her the sheet of paper. Aiz quickly glanced over it and a brief look of surprise passed over her face before it was replaced with one of accomplishment. Strange how she appeared more happy now seeing her stats go up than she was when she actually leveled up a few days ago.

"Just more intense training," she said, telling the truth again while keeping the secret.

"Well then keep up with it, but don't push yourself too much" So long as she didn't reveal any sensitive info, which she obviously wouldn't, then there was no reason to stop the training. Loki may have to inform Finn and Riveria just so they would know and maybe find some information on the person. There was no way another unnaturally strong person was going to fly under their radar, not after the tamer. As she thought that, the most strangest and random thought passed through her head for no reason.

_Doesn't that blue animal guy kinda fit that description?_

...

"Oww…" Bell groaned as his eyes fluttered open. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep, but the throbbing pain he was feeling in his head denied him any chance of it.

The last thing he remembered was meeting up at the wall with Aiz and Sonic as usual and training with them. The two of them fought first and the best way he could describe it was just a blur of colors. Streaks of blue and gold clashing against each other with other colors like green, red, and orange surrounding them. After that, he had fought Aiz in a much more bland spar. He had done better than the past few times, but then she spun around and her foot came flying at his face and-

Bell froze up and his eyes widened as he realized two things. First, he had been knocked unconscious by her kick again and second, every time that happened, he would always find himself resting on her lap. He sat up abruptly and quickly confirmed that he was in fact receiving a lap pillow from how Aiz was kneeling behind him and Sonic was giving him an amused smirk.

"That was quick, you usually take at least three minutes to get back up. And not immediately running away, this training really is helping you" Sonic snickered.

"Hey! It's not like I chose to get knocked out!" Bell protested.

"I am sincerely sorry for kicking you" Aiz immediately apologized while bowing. Bell quickly froze up and began rambling to rectify that it wasn't her fault either while Sonic just laughed in the background with Caliburn.

"Anyways, the sun has risen up a fair amount and no doubt people are starting to wake. I think this should be an ideal time to stop training" Caliburn remarked.

"He does have a point. Same time tomorrow as usual, catcha later Aiz" Sonic said while grabbing the sword and started to walk towards the stairs with an exhausted Bell trailing him.

"Sonic, may I ask you something?" Aiz suddenly asked.

"Hmm, What's up?"

"Would it be alright if you went with us on the expedition? Your strength would help us"

According to Aiz, the Loki familia, or the captain more specifically, liked to plan expeditions to the deeper floors of the dungeon and this was one of them. All they knew was that it was happening in a few days, which was also the period of time that she had agreed to train with them.

"You want me to go with you guys? I mean, I would love the chance to fight some of the deeper floor monsters, but I think I gotta say no to the offer" Sonic said with a sheepish smile. All three of them looked at him with utter surprise, didn't he say a while back that he wanted to fight something challenging?, "I'm saying that so people won't get too suspicious. It would be strange to see a level one be able to keep up with first class adventurers. People would definitely start harassing Bell and Hestia so they could get me on their side, so I'm planning on laying low a little until Bell can fend for himself" There was also the fact that he may not be here for long, but that was for another time.

"Oh, alright. I will see you tomorrow" she said, still as neutral and stoic as she always was. With a wave, the trio walked off and soon merged into the crowd of people on the street.

"Still, it's amazing to be able to train with the Sword Princess herself. I can already see how much stronger I've become since I started" Bell said while glancing at his hands with a sense of awe. Before he had even met Sonic, he was still a helpless rookie barely surviving on the first floors. Now, he was confident he could solo up to floor ten with only some difficulty.

"Don't forget about me. Not only did I start teaching you first, but I also picked up a few tricks from fighting with Aiz" Sonic retorted while poking him in the side.

Probably the most notable one he could point out was learning more about his magic. Not only did he have access to his wisp abilities, there was also other powers like his Soul Surge technique that he used back in the Arthurian realm and even his werehog form. While he had yet to test any of his super forms, he assumed they would simply drain all his magic within a few seconds. However, he did also discover a more useful application of his magic. By channeling a wisp power into Caliburn instead of himself, he could essentially turn the sword into magic sword. It was honestly a blast being able to launch waves of fire or bolts of lightning with a swing of a sword.

"I guess you have a point. Anyway, we kinda have today for ourselves since Lily asked for a break today. What should we do?"

"Let's check out the guild, something interesting usually happens at the guild" As ridiculous as it may sound, it was actually more true than what should have been normal. Eina accusing them of not being prepared for floor eight and promptly checking their status, Bell realizing his knife was stolen, and the apology with an offer to train from Aiz. Maybe something interesting would happen?

Soon, they had walked through the doors of the guild and Sonic's earlier statement turned out to be even more accurate. Most of the people there were crowding around the bulletin board that usually had quests and important notices posted up. The three of them managed to squeeze through the crowd and get to the front were they looked around to see what caught everyone's attention. It was pretty easy to spot as it was smack dab in the middle of the entire board.

_Aiz Wallenstein/Sword Princess, Level 6. Recent achievements: Defeated Monster Rex Udaeus on Floor 37 solo_

"Level...6?" Bell said in awe and disbelief.

"And she defeated a floor boss by herself, it's almost as if she's trying to copy me" Sonic mused with a small smirk.

A Monster Rex , as Eina had put it in a long 2 hour study session, were unique type of monsters that spawned in the dungeon wielding terrifying power. They would take some time to spawn after they are killed and each had a specific floor that they always spawned in, hence the term floor boss. It would usually take groups of strong adventurers and a well thought out strategy to beat just one. So when Aiz basically told logic to fuck off and defeated one on her own presumably without planning beforehand, it was a pretty big deal. While he would commend her on that achievement, it wasn't that impressive compared to the strength of other behemoths like Perfect Chaos, Dark Gaia, and many of Eggman's robots.

Though from the corner of his eye, he noticed that Bell seemed to be shaking a little. Turning towards the boy, he had a look of both hopelessness and frustration all over his face and his hands were clenched tightly enough that his knuckles were turning white.

"Hey buddy, what's got you so worked up about? Shouldn't you be happy for her, level ups are pretty difficult to get, even more so at higher levels"

"I know, it's just that...at this rate, I'll never be able to catch up with Miss Aiz. I'm only a level one, how on earth do you think I could catch up with someone five levels above me?" Bell said with a dejected sigh before turning around and walking out. Sonic and Caliburn both shared a look before running after the boy.

"C'mon Bell, there's no need to be all gloom over that. Reaching her level does seem like a tall order, but you shouldn't just give up just like that. It may just take some time, that's all" Sonic said, trying to cheer him up. However, it didn't seem to work as Bell still had the same look on his face.

"That's the thing, I don't want to wait. I want to get stronger as fast as possible. I can't just spend my entire life working up to that level"

"You're right Knave, you shouldn't spend your entire life focusing on getting stronger" Caliburn suddenly interjected. The two of them looked at the sword in surprise, as if not expecting him to say that, "That's why you should value the experiences along the way, by having an adventure. An adventure where you can look back on it without regrets, no matter what you find at the end. Even if you failed, you can at least say you have learned new things and grown as an individual. This, I believe, is how anyone should live their life"

Bell stared with wide eyes as the words sunk into him. Even if he wasn't close into catching up with Aiz, he had grown so much in the time he has been in Orario. Experiencing both the pain of rejection and the comfort of acceptance when he first arrived, learning how to fight and defend himself from both Sonic and Aiz, even the pangs of betrayal and the joy of helping someone in need with Lily. There was so many things he had learned from his ambitions that had helped shape him into the person he was now. While his goal didn't diminish in the slightest, there was also another desire blooming inside him. He wanted to experience new things and learn from them head on. Even if he never makes it to her level, at least he would have became a person he could be proud of.

"Huh, since when could you be philosophical? You were usually a hunk of metal with sass before" Sonic commented with a raised eyebrow.

"As if you have any right to talk! You acted like an idiot a majority of the time before you had that one moment of insight!" Caliburn retorted while hopping aggressively.

As the two of them began to bicker, Bell let out a few chuckles. Only those two can go from being surprisingly wise to arguing like children. Even so, he actually enjoyed moments like these. He didn't have that many friends back at home, it was usually just him and his grandpa, so it was nice to have people he could casually talk with.

"Bell!" A voice called from behind them. The three of them paused what they were doing and turned around to see Syr running towards them. Once she got to them, she immediately wrapped her arms around Bell's arm, much to his shock and the other two's amusement, "I need your help!"

"Huh?! What's wrong?! Did something happen?!"

"There's no time, come with me!" She urged as she began to lead him back the way she came, which they assumed was the pub judging by how she was currently wearing her uniform. As they were running though, Sonic couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

_If she isn't bothering to explain what's happening while factoring in her personality, there's a good chance she's misleading him_

His thoughts proved to be correct as now he and Caliburn were standing in the kitchen area of the pub, watching Bell stared at a large load of dirty dishes. They honestly tried not to laugh, but the dumbstruck look on his face was stronger than their resistance.

"Thanks for the help, they really started to pile up while I was goof- I mean taking a small break, and Mama Mia is making me clean them as punishment. So thanks and good luck" Syr said with a bright smile before going off to continue her now less burdened job.

"This wasn't what I was expecting when she said she needed help, but I guess I'll do it anyway" Bell sighed before starting to clean the cups and plates.

"These are too much for one person, I will take half" a voice said from next to him. He glanced over and saw Ryu taking a plate and starting to clean as well. As the two slowly worked on the pile of dishes, Sonic decided that he would go somewhere else while they were busy. He and Caliburn promptly left the pub and began walking down random streets.

"So, what should we do?" Sonic asked with his hands behind his head.

"I would suggest we simply walk around. Shopping is out of the question as you refuse to wear clothes and you already ate those potato puffs earlier"

"Yeah, and I already checked out most of the city during my runs. I guess we could just walk around until Bell finishes" Who knows, maybe something interesting will happen out of nowhere.

"Hey blue guy!" Just as he thought that, a loud voice called from behind them. The two turned around in surprise and saw that the voice came from one of the amazons that was with Aiz at Monsterphilia with the other following behind her.

"Oh, hi? You were at Monsterphilia fighting those plant monsters, right?" Sonic asked. He didn't know how he somehow ran into every single person that he helped back then, but he had to focus on this than some random question.

"Yeah! Thanks for the help, those things were really annoying. But you just flew in out of nowhere and killed like BAM!" Tiona shouted while waving her arms as if to recreate the scene.

"Um, Yeah. It's no big deal, they weren't that difficult. I"m surprised you guys struggled as much as you did"

"Those monster seem to be resistant to blunt force and we didn't have our weapons, so it went pretty bad. Your name was Sonic if I remember; While I appreciate you helping us, I was wondering how you were able to defeat them so easily. I don't remember hearing about someone like you getting an alias" Tione asked with a curious yet suspicious tone.

Sonic chuckled to himself as he expected one of them to ask him that. Anyone who was unknown in the city yet strong enough to kill those monster with one hit was someone they should watch out for, even more so as they didn't know the true extent of his abilities. While they probably had good intentions, he wasn't going to expose himself too early and he had a way of diverting their attention.

"I wouldn't say I'm that strong. It was mostly thanks to my skill and trusty weapon that I was able to kill them" he said while leaning on Caliburn.

"Get off of me at once! I am a sacred weapon of great power, not some post to lean on!" The sword growled in annoyance. The moment he talked, the two Amazon's eyes quickly turned onto the sword with a look of surprise. Worked like a charm.

"Woah, that sword can talk?! That's so cool, it's just like something right out of a story!" Tiona exclaimed excitedly, getting very close to the sword to get a better look. Caliburn immediately tried moving away, but the weight of Sonic leaning down on him kept him stationary. Now that he thought about it, he most likely intended for this to happen so they would stop questioning him. Once they got back to the church, he would share some choice words with him.

"I guess, but don't compliment him too much, it'll just inflate his already huge ego. So, what are your guy's names? I already know about Aiz and your elf friend Lefiya, but I never got yours"

"Oh, just call me Tiona. That's my annoying sister Tione" Tiona said while pointing back at her sister, ignoring the angry retort that she was the annoying one, "So Sonic, wanna hang out with us?"

"Really? I appreciate the offer, but aren't I a complete stranger basically? We're even in different familias" Sonic said in surprise.

"Of course not, we know each other's name and we've meet before. If anything, I'd say we're already friends!" Tiona said while glancing at her sister with a knowing look. Tione caught the message and returned it with mischievous smirk. Suddenly, both of them appeared at his side and grabbed his wrists with a death grip, "So since you're friends with us, you're coming with us whether you like it or not"

"Huh?" Was all he could say before they began dragging him behind them. He immediately tried escaping from their clutches, but there hands were practically reinforced shackles that he couldn't break out of. As he disappeared around the corner with his cries for help falling on deaf ears, Caliburn simply stared at him with an extremely amused expression.

"Interesting, I don't even need to do anything. This should serve as revenge perfectly well" He said before beginning pursuit of them.

**The next day…**

"And they dragged you around the city the entire day?" Lily asked in disbelief, needing him to confirm what he said.

"Yep, there wasn't a single moment where one of their hands were clamped on my arm. Otherwise, I would've dashed out the moment they did" Sonic said with a groan.

They were currently walking on the ninth floor at a casual pace, which some would consider odd since they were in a literal death trap. Today had been the last day of training with Aiz as it was also the day of the expedition. They had decided to go down into the dungeon to test how much Bell had grown since starting. Unfortunately, not that many monsters had shown up recently, so they decided to recount the previous day to pass the time. It started off well as Lily told them how she was tidying up her living space now that she didn't have to worry about moving out suddenly to hide and Bell saying how he helped out of the pub until Caliburn brought up what happened to Sonic. Bell, who had already heard it, stifled a few chuckles and asked him to tell the story to Lily. He reluctantly did so, but only under the threat that either he tells her or the sword will.

"I'm not sure what is more surprising, the fact that you spent the entire day with famous adventurers or how the only reason you did was because they forced you" she said with an amused smirk on her face.

"You should have seen him once he got back. He curled up into a ball and refused to talk with us" Bell said with a smile. While Sonic did grumble a little, he made no move to deny his words. That experience was almost exactly to what Amy would do and he needed time to recuperate. The other three let out a few laughs before soon falling back into silence.

A few minutes of this passed as they continued walking. Their footsteps echoed throughout the entire area. Other than that, everything was completely silent. Too silent.

"Hey guys?" Bell suddenly asked, "Is it just me…., or do you feel like someone's watching us?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that Master Bell, but I definitely think something seems off. We have not seen an adventurer or any monsters down here for quite a while" Lily commented while glancing around.

"No one around, feeling of someone watching us, and eerie silence? If something big and scary doesn't jump in out of nowhere to scare us, I actually might be disappointed" Sonic said with a laugh himself, though Caliburn could tell he was on alert by how his eyes darted around for any signs of movement.

_Calm down, it's alright. It's probably just my nerves acting up. There probably isn't any danger...though, it does remind me about what happened on the fifth floor_, Bell thought. It was just as eerie and silent back then as it was now. All this needed to be an exact recreation was for a certain monster to show up out of nowhere.

Suddenly, Sonic stopped abruptly and immediately grabbed ahold of Caliburn. He was looking straight ahead with an intense expression of focus.

"Master Sonic, what's wrong?" Lily asked with some nervousness in her tone.

"...Something is coming, and it's armed"

Soon, the other two began to hear the tell tale sounds of footsteps from up ahead. They started off quiet, but soon got louder and louder until they started to sound like stomping. There was also slight screeching sound, as if metal were being dragged along the hard stone floor. Finally, they saw a tall figure emerge from the darkness. Towering above them, the creature was covered in blood red and gray fur. Despite having the muscular arms and legs of a man, the head wasn't with the face of a bull with glowing red eyes and gleaming black horns. In its hands was a large single edge sword whose tip grated across the ground as the beast continued walking towards them, blood splattered along its edge. Out of all the monsters in the dungeon, this was one of the most infamous ones, more than the upper floor monsters due to its immense strength and more than the lower levels as hardly anyone made it that deep.

It was a Minotaur.

"A-a Minotaur?! What's a minotaur doing on the ninth floor?!" Lily asked while backing away, fear and horror written all over her face. Minotaurs usually spawned around the fifteenth and seventeenth floor. As such, only those who have leveled up are able to fight them, and they would still be a serious challenge.

"Interesting, so this is what a minotaur looks like. Though I don't recall the advisor saying anything about having red fur, or a metal weapon" Caliburn noted curiously.

"Does it matter what color they are?! It can easily kill us regardless!" Lily screamed before turning to Bell, "Master Bell, we need to run! A group of level ones don't stand a chance at beating a minotaur! If we run now, we might be able to- Master Bell? Master Bell, are are you even listening?!"

The reason for her confusion was because Bell was simply just staring at the beast. Everything here was exactly like what happened on the fifth floor, and it had nearly killed him if Aiz didn't show up when she did. By almost l means, he should have been terrified, shaking in his boots at the prospect of seeing a monster that could easily kill him, or maybe even running away again like he always does.

But he wasn't afraid, only curious. This wouldn't have been the first time he had faced something stronger than him, from killing the Silverback during Monsterphilia to taking on a large horde of orcs on his own. He had even fought people much stronger than him like the Sword Princess and Sonic himself. While he wasn't close in beating them in a fight, they had trained him extensively and he could feel how much he had grown. This may as well be the perfect test to see the results of his training. If he couldn't beat a minotaur by himself, then he had no chance of reaching her level and all the effort they had put into training him would have been a waste.

"Don't worry, this guy shouldn't take that long to beat. You guys should step back a little while I-" Sonic was beginning to say before was interrupted by Bell suddenly dashing at the minotaur with his knife and sword drawn, "and there he goes"

The minotaur seemed to have been caught off guard by the sudden attack, but it was momentarily as it quickly brought up its sword and blocked the attack with ease. However, Bell didn't stop as he drew back slightly and darted to the side. He skid to a stop while putting away on his blades before he raised his arm right towards the monster.

"Firebolt!" He shouted. Fire shot out of his palm and struck the minotaur right in the face. The attack exploded and a cloud of smoke covered the area around it. Bell quickly dashed forward and dropped to the ground as he slid underneath the monster. His blades were out to try and slash out the legs, but they managed to do was make a shallow cut. He then immediately got right back up and leaped away to where his two teammates were. Right before he could charge at the minotaur again, he felt something tap his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was Sonic who had an annoyed and exasperated expression.

"Now that I finally have your attention, mind explaining why you decided it was a good idea to charge right at the thing?" He asked.

"Sorry, but I couldn't just let myself be saved by someone again. I already ran from a minotaur before, but I want to prove that I can do this myself. Let me at least try to fight it" Bell said while still eyeing where the minotaur was. It seemed to be slightly cautious as it was staring at them with narrowed eyes. This wasn't normal behavior for a monster, but it was obvious that nothing about this monster was normal.

"That doesn't mean you have to fight it. You aren't strong enough to beat it Master Bell, we should run now that we have the chance before-Fine" Lily was pleading before she was cut off by Sonic. She immediately looked at him with the most dumbfounded expression, "What?!"

"You're just going to be moody if I stop you, so I guess you can take a shot at it. But of things start getting out of hand, I'm stepping in" Sonic said with a sigh. While the other two thought he was simply annoyed, Caliburn spotted the subtle smirk that said otherwise. He was proud of the boy, but he didn't want them to know that.

"Thank you!" Bell shouted before charging at the Minotaur once again. One large sword and a pair of blades clashed against each other and thus started the duel. Both opponents were relentless as each of them attacked, blocked, and parried each other. Despite the difference in size, neither of them backed down from any hit. Bell was constantly moving, dashing around the monster and slashing at wherever it couldn't defend. He often got knocked back a little with each hit, but he kept on charging at it with the same vigor.

"Master Sonic, why are you not stopping Master Bell?! He's not strong enough to beat a Minotaur at level one! Stop him before he gets himself killed!" Lily pleaded desperately. She knew he was strong, strong enough to take on a horde of orcs by himself, but a Minotaur was too much. She couldn't lose him, not when he was one of the first people to ever show her genuine kindness.

"Won't work Lily, he's too much of a risk taker to simply stop him. Even if we did stop him, he would either get very moody for quite a while or become more reckless the next time this happens. The best thing to do is to let him go and help out when he's in trouble, that's how I did it and I'm still kicking" Sonic said while looking at the fight with focused eyes. While that was big part of the reason, there was also the fact he had done the same thing before. There was plenty of times were he charged into danger despite his friend's warnings, like what happened at the amusement park with Tails. If he were to stop him, it would have been very hypocritical of him. Besides, he had faith the Bell would beat the monster after all the training they put him through.

Ducking under the passing sword, Bell spun around and slashed at the Minotaur's chest with both blades in the same spot. Each blade themselves were only strong enough to make light cuts against its thick skin, but attacking the same spot make it easier to cut deeper and do more damage. He immediately leapt away as the monster raised it's sword and slammed it into the ground. The spot where he was just standing exploded into a cloud of rocks and dust, the impact blowing him back a bit. The few seconds it took to adjust himself so he wouldn't fall over was enough for him not be able to react quick enough to the arm in front of him. The blow struck him right in the chest and sent him flying into one of the pillars forming in the cavern.

"Master Bell!" Lily shouted as she tried to run to his aid, but was stopped by Sonic. He was looking at where Bell had crashed into, ready to jump in if he wasn't able to get back up. Not even a moment, fire shot out from the cloud of dust and struck the minotaur directly. Multiple shots were fired and each made the beast step back from the force of each. Right when the onslaught ended, Bell dashed out, bare of any armor, and slashed it in the side before it could block him.

_Good, at least he can take a beating_, Sonic thought in relief as he relaxed. Bell was doing way better than he thought he would, almost evenly matched with the minotaur. The biggest problem he saw was that his weapons weren't strong enough to do that much damage, but he could try striking vital points like the neck or somehow try taking its weapon.

Suddenly, his ears twitched as he picked up the imperceptible sound of metal clashing. Multiple clangs were made and he discerned that whoever was fighting were far away from how quiet it was and powerful by how quickly each sound came in succession. He had no idea whether the two people were just sparing or having a full on duel, but his curiosity wasn't going to allow to not see it. Bell didn't appear to be struggling against the Minotaur, so he could probably be fine with a safety net.

"Yo Bell! There's something I want to check out, think you handle this while I'm gone?" Sonic shouted, making sure to do it when they were separated so he wouldn't distract him.

"Sure!" Bell replied before charging right back into the fight.

"Good" Sonic said before turning to Lily who looked like she was right about to argue, "If he needs help, throw Caliburn to him. He'll finish the fight quicker and easier". Handing the sword to the girl, he gave a quick salute before dashing off.

It wasn't difficult to locate which direction the sounds were coming from, which led on to a different way than the one they came through. The open area ended at a wall which led into a tunnel that entered. As he got closer, the sounds of metal had stopped and were instead replaced with voices.

"Move" the first voice which he recognized as Aiz's ordered. She sounded both frustrated and a little tense.

"Quite impatient, Sword Princess. Since when do warriors flee in the middle of battle?" Came the cold response of the other person. Male, deep voice of a large person, cold and blunt tone of someone who could probably look death in the face and call it pathetic. Based on this information, Aiz had somewhere important to be and the man blocked her way by challenging her to a fight. He was definitely a strong one if he could fight against a level six adventurer, but that served to make him more curious.

Sonic was soon able to see the end of the tunnel and his mood instantly soured. His previous assessment of the man turned out to be somewhat accurate as while he was large, he hadn't anticipated him to be so tall. The man was literal mountain of muscle twice as tall as he was with almost every inch of his body being covered in incredibly toned muscles. While he might have made for a very good opponent, he already didn't like the guy that much. One, he decided to pick a fight with his self proclaimed friend Aiz when she needed to be elsewhere and second, he was using a sword that looked exactly like the one the Minotaur was using, meaning that he might be responsible for setting it loose on the upper floors. Sonic grinned as an idea came to mind.

This calls for an intervention.

…

Aiz clenched Desperate tighter as she thought about what had just happened. The expedition was going fine as they made their way through each floor, splitting up into two groups and planning to meet on floor eighteen. That went out the window when two injured adventurers came running towards them, screaming about a minotaur. Considering that they were on the upper levels, the only plausible reason she could think of was someone accidentally chased one up here like they did with the last expedition. They were already planning to send someone to locate the monster when the man added something else.

"I remember seeing a party of about two or three down there earlier. All I remember was that one of them was a kid with white hair"

That instantly set Aiz off as she suddenly bolted away in the direction the two came from. She knew that the person they were talking about was Bell. As a level one adventurer, he wasn't strong enough to defend himself against a minotaur, even with the training they gave him. Of course, there would have been nothing to worry about if Sonic was there as he was easily stronger, but part of her just needed to check that he was okay. In the few day she has trained with them, they had become quite close with her, almost as much as the members of her familia. She couldn't rest easy until she knew he was perfectly fine.

As she dashed through the floors, she could quietly hear the distinctive roar of a Minotaur. Judging by that, it had to be on this floor and had spotted a person. If she hurried, then she should be able to kill it before it kills someone else. Soon, she came upon a crossroad where the roars sounded the loudest, with two tunnels branching off to the side. The roars sounded as if they were coming from all directions, making it difficult to pinpoint which way she should take. The longer she waited, the more likely it was for the minotaur to kill others, she had to make a decision.

"Sword Princess" a voice said from up ahead. It was cold and hardened, almost no emotion being conveyed at all. She flinched slightly as she easily recognized the voice. Soon, a large figure came out of the darkness. He was huge, around seven feet of pure muscle around his entire body. With little armor, rust colored hair with animal ears barely visible, and eyes that would make any man freeze by how cold they looked, almost all of Orario knew and feared his name. King Ottarl, member of the Freya familia and the strongest adventurer in the city.

"King" she replied while subtly getting ready to draw her weapon. He continued walking until he stopped right between the two tunnels. She already had a guess what he wanted by that one action alone.

"Fight me"

"Why though?"

"We are members of different familias, doesn't that already make us enemies" As much as she wanted to keep searching for the monster, she didn't have that much of a choice. He was blocking her way and fighting him was the only to get past. Readying her blade, she thought if she was able to distract him for just a moment, she would be able to slip past him.

"Tempest!" She shouted, covering herself in wind. Dashing forward, she sent out multiple jabs that were as quick as lightning. Despite that, Ottarl simply raised his blade and blocked each hit without even flinching.

"Hmm, you have improved" he noted with a neutral expression. Aiz gave a small nod in acknowledgment before charging right back.

That's how she got into this situation. Every attack she threw would be effortlessly deflected away, regardless of which direction she attacked from. Even when she tried slipping past him, he would attack and force her to jump back to avoid getting hit. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not, but he wasn't allowing her to get past him.

"Move" she ordered with barely concealed frustration.

"Quite impatient, Sword Princess. Since when do warriors flee in the middle of battle?" Ottarl asked with some scorn in his tone. Since he wasn't going to move, she had to make him move. If she could hit him hard enough make him stumble, then she might be able to slip past him during that brief window. Taking a deep breath, she let herself relax her body a little before charging at him once again. She focused on putting as much as she could into one strike to knock him back. He had lifted his blade already in preparation to block her attack once again. The unstoppable force and the immovable object were just mere moments of colliding with each other when…

"If she asked you to move, then move!" A voice shouted from the side. The two were slightly caught off guard and barely had time to look over before something fast crashed into Ottarl's face. The force of the impact was powerful enough to make him stumble two steps back. Aiz's eyes widened as she instantly recognized the color and speed of Sonic and used the brief window to dash into the tunnel that he came from. A few moments later, he came running up alongside her.

"Now _that's_ what I call a dramatic entrance, he never saw me coming! So, what's the rush?" He asked after he stopped laughing.

"Minotaur, have you seen it?" She asked.

"Yep, down this way actually. It was busy fighting Bell before I ran here" She looked at him with such shock and accusation that he nearly flinched back, "Geez, don't look at me like that, he charged the damn thing before I could. Besides, he's actually doing pretty well on his own"

Soon, the two of them made back to the spot where the fight was still going on only to see Bell fire off several Firebolts and charging right into the smoke. Even with the smoke, the monster had sensed him and blocked the attack. It threw him back with some extra exertion, but the boy spun his body around and landed nimbly on his feet. The two seemed to pause for a moment to take a breath before resuming their duel.

"See, he can handle the thing just fine. You just just sit back and watch the show, I'm sure you'll enjoy it" Sonic said while giving her a knowing look.

As much as Aiz wanted to ignore him and stop the minotaur right then, even she could see what he was referring to. Any level one adventurer wouldn't be able to last even a minute against a minotaur, yet she was seeing him fight it on almost equal footing. If he were to win, he would have accomplished a feat no adventurer of his level had ever done before. It was because of her curiosity to see how he would prevail that she simply stood with her hand barely above her weapon.

"Hey Aiz!" Someone called out from behind them. The three turned around to see that most of the top class adventurers of her familia jogging towards them. The wolf man from the tavern was the one who spoke, mich to Sonic's annoyance.

"T-the Loki familia?!" Lily whispered in awe and shock.

"Huh, Interesting audience for today's event, but no problem I see" Sonic muttered to himself.

"Aiz, is there a reason why you're letting that boy fight that monster?" Riveria asked, not in accusation, but in curiosity. She figured that she wouldn't let that boy be harmed by a minotaur a second time, but her lack of action confused even her.

"...I'm not too sure myself, but he might have the same reason as me" she said, not taking her eyes off the fight. While most of them didn't understand what she meant, Riveria's eyes had more clarity as she knew. Of course she would know, she had done the same exact thing when Aiz fought against the Monster Rex, the need to prove themselves by overcoming a larger obstacle. If she could trust her enough to let her fight alone, then she could trust Aiz's judgement.

"Seriously, we have to sit here and watch some brat try and fight it? I guess there is the rule of not stealing someone's kill" Bete grumbled while also looking at the boy. His eyes narrowed as he examined his face and then they widened in realization, "Hold on, isn't that the Tomato boy? No way, he got caught up with another minotaur?! What type of luck does he have, it's like the minotaurs are coming up here to see him!"

While he wasn't straight up insulting him in a drunken stupor like before, Sonic wasn't amused with how he was joking about it. Some snark would be sufficient enough, "Pretty bold of you to say that when you were partially responsible for the first time"

Bete turned to the side and his eyes narrowed as he practically snarled, "I recognize you, you're the rat punk from before. I'd suggest you watch what you say unless you want to fight"

"Hey, it's not my fault you literally can't hold your liquor" Sonic said in a mock placating tone. A stifled snort was heard and the group glanced to the side to see Tiona facing away with her hand over her mouth. Bete glared at both of them before looking away grumbling.

"Besides Bete, is this really the weak adventurer you were insulting a month ago? From what I see, he's strong enough to fight this monster head on" The blond prum, Finn said with an inquisitive smile as Bell and the Minotaur struggled against each other before backing off. Both of them were visibly injured with the minotaur having slash marks all over its body with blood pouring out while Bell was covered in bruises that were visible since most of his shirt was torn, revealing his lean yet firm muscles. The monster roared and charged at the boy once again. Bell, who hadn't caught his breath yet, panicked slightly and quickly raised his arm up.

"Firebolt!" The magic flew and struck its target straight on in a loud explosion. Several more were casted and they forced the monster back enough to let him jump right back into the fight.

"Did he actually cast magic without a chant?" Tiona said in surprise. She may not be as smart as Riveria or Lefiya are on the subject, but she knew that practically all magic needed a chant to work. Aiz had something similar, but it was surprising to see another person with odd magic.

"Yeah, and he's strong enough to injure a minotaur. Not much with its thick skin, but impressive for a level one" Tione noted with some curiosity. If anything, he was doing much better than nearly every level one adventurer they had known. Brave enough to challenge a minotaur, wise enough to not fight recklessly, and even skilled enough to hold his own against it.

"Keep it up Bell, that cow is slower than you!" Sonic shouted in encouragement.

Bell's eyes widened a bit when he heard that. During their training, Sonic taught him the best way to deal with enemies slower than him and he smiled as he knew what to do next. Immediately, he charged at the minotaur and slid underneath it as it tries to attack him. He quickly got back and dashed to the side when it started to turn around. Mixing in erratic movements and sudden changes in direction, Bell was moving around the Minotaur faster than it could keep track of. Every time it would turn around to face towards him, he would already be running the opposite way. His movements were were way to fast for the beast to keep up with and as such, it soon tripped over itself and stumbled. Bell immediately capitalized on that as he jumped up, using its large blade as a platform to get above it. Gripping the short sword in both hands, he raised it up and drove it deep into its eye.

The minotaur roared in anguish, shaking Bell off and raising both hands to remove the sword lodged in its head. Bell tumbled a little before coming to a stop and looking up. His plan to blind it worked, but now he lost his other weapon and there was no way he could easily retrieve it. Glancing around for anything he could use to his advantage, his eyes spotted the large sword that the minotaur dropped on reflex to move its hand to its head. Bell quickly dashed forward and grabbed the weapon off the ground. It didn't feel too heavy and he was confident that he could wield it without a problem. New weapon in hand, he ran forward and slashed at the minotaur's chest. Unlike before with his knife, the blade cut in deep and blood sprayed out in its wake. He continued his advance by using his momentum to spin around and slash it again and again. Crisscrossing lines of deep slash marks began to appear across its body with every attack and a copious amount of blood splattered everywhere, even on Bell himself.

The minotaur finally back away from the brutal punishment with a pained roar and dropped down to all fours. Bell thought that it was succumbing to the injuries, but the way it's legs were tending up as they dig into the ground told him that it was about to charge him. Angling his blade down, he crouched in preparation to run forward as well. The two opponents stared each other down, knowing that the next attack would be the decider of who would come out of this fight the victor. A few moments of silence passed, and then both let out their battle cries before charging at each other.

"Big mistake" Riveria sighed. It doesn't matter if the boy was faster than the monster, it's just suicidal for anyone under level three to challenge a minotaur at brute strength.

"Idiot" Bete scoffed.

"Master Bell!" Lily shouted.

"He'll be okay" Both Aiz and Sonic said at the same time with confidence.

When the two of them got close enough, Bell raised the weapon high and brought it down as hard as he could. The sword collided with the minotaur's horn and the two objects briefly fought for dominance. Something had to give out under so much force, and it wasn't the human nor the monster.

*crrk!* A spider web of cracks appeared across the blade and they grew until the weapon broke in half. The Minotaur, noticing the opportunity, reared its head to the side before swinging it to impale the human with its horn. Bell was caught off guard for a moment by the unexpected event, but it didn't stop him at all. Using the momentum from the swing, he spun around on one foot and pushed off against it, backflipping just a moment before the monster's horn could find its mark. The beast stumbled a bit from missing and tried to turn around to continue the fight, but it froze the moment it faced the boy's direction. All it could do was look down to see Bell with his knife and hand plunged into its chest.

"Firebolt!" He shouted. The Minotaur's body started to glow as flames erupted within it and some fire billowing out of the many lacerations given by its former weapon. Boiling hot blood poured out of its mouth and the monster raised its arm to swat the human away if it meant stopping the excruciating pain.

"Firebolt!" The attempt was halted as more fire was released. If one looked close, they would notice that it's body had swelled up a little.

"Firebolt!" What was once subtle became very visible as the Minotaur swelled up like a ballon with hot air. It kept expanding and expanding until like all balloons, the beast's upper body exploded in a burst of fire and steam. The smoldering lower half soon collapsed and disappeared into a puff of ash. All that remained was a horn and the boy who stood as still as a rock.

"...Holy shit, he actually killed" Bete breathed out after a few moments of stunned silence. The boy in front of them had just accomplished a feat that was near impossible and never done before, defeating a Minotaur as only a level one.

"Told ya so, he just needed time to grow. Want to try calling him pathetic now?" Sonic asked cheekily while walking towards Bell. He didn't seem to be responsive, probably Mind Down from using his magic so many times.

"Is Master Bell going to be okay?" Lily asked as she checked over him for any immediate injuries that had to be taken care.

"Don't worry, just a potion and some rest should be enough to get him back on top top shape" Sonic said while giving a quick glance over. Turning around, he saw that most of the Loki familia looked shocked as they should be, but he noticed the elf with green hair seemed to be concentrating on something before her eyes widened in surprise. He followed her gaze and it lead to Bell's exposed back that showed his status. While all of it was encrypted in the language of the gods, he knew that some people could read it like how Eina did. He quickly performed a leg sweep and caught Bell before he hit the ground. The others blinked in surprise by how quickly he did it and how he was able to carry Bell even though he was taller and no doubt heavier.

"Well now that there isn't a monster to fight or someone ogling his back,"Sonic said loudly while looking directly at Riveria, who had the decency to look a little sheepish, "I think it's bout time we head back up. Good luck on your guy's expedition"

"Hold on, may we at least get his name?" Finn asked.

"His name? Bell Cranel, just a kid who wants to be a hero" He replied with a smirk. With that, he and the other two with him began a brisk jog to the the dungeon exit.

"Bell Cranel, both he and his friend are people we should look at for in the future. Anyway, I take it you saw what his stats were if you were 'ogling' long enough for him to notice?" Finn asked the mage with a slight hint of amusement in his tone.

However, the teasing didn't affect Riveria as she said one thing that even she couldn't believe herself, "S"

"What?"

"All of his basic abilities are S ranked"

All of them stared at the elf with slight shock and disbelief, but none of them saw the very small and subtle smile on Aiz's face. She was thinking of something amusing that they didn't know, like the inside jokes Tiona and Tione said they have. If they were surprised by what Bell did, then imagine if they were to see what Sonic could?

...

"_That fight was even better than the last time. The pleasures of being a nigh omnipotent being" _Joker said with a small chuckle. At the moment, he sat upon a throne made of pure black obsidian and velvet cushions. Aside from that, the only other thing in the white void was a floating disc of crystal. It showed the area on the ninth floor where the fight just happened from a third person perspective. He had been watching the fight the entire time and had thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

"_I knew bringing him to this world would be interesting, and that display was worth it. The boy was much more skilled here and actually took the initiative himself the first time. This timeline is much better than the last" _When he had told Sonic that he could do additional things, he meant so much more than just 'additional'.

Not only can he send people to different worlds, but he could send them to alternate versions of those worlds. There was an infinite amount different versions of a world, from minor changes like some people not existing to differences in the natural order of the world. Some worlds were far behind and others were far ahead in terms of time, allowing him a form of clairvoyancy.

"_But what to do now? There is that event that will occur soon and I already have something planned for it, but how can I make this more interesting?" _Joker pondered with a sigh. After pondering on the question for a few minutes, an idea popped in his head, "_I know the perfect idea! If the characters are starting to get old, just add new ones!"_

With a wave of his hand, two more discs appeared out of thin air. One of them showed a small building with a plane parked next to it and the other showed a large kingdom.

"_This should be good" _Joker said in amusement.


	12. Chapter 12

"So, I guess something good happened?" Eina asked with a sigh when she saw the smiles of the two boys and the sword. It was a normal day so far as nothing had happened since her shift started an hour ago. Suddenly, Bell and the other two had dropped in to say hi, probably having a day off and had nothing better to do.

"I guess you could say that" Sonic said cryptically while glancing at Bell, who was smiling the most.

"Alright, what happened to make even the stoic Caliburn smile?"

"Well, our goddess updated my status last night after what happened in the dungeon. She kinda went on a frustrated rant for a while and we looked at my status paper to see what was wrong and-Bell leveled up" Bell was recounting before he was cut off by Sonic, "Hey! I wanted to tell her!"

"Well you were taking so long to do so. We don't need a long tale" Sonic countered dismissively.

"But still!"

"If you two would stop bickering, you would notice that you broke your advisor" Caliburn drawled. The two stopped their arguing and turned to see that Eina was in fact not responding. Her face was set in a neutral expression that would've not given any of her thoughts away had it not been for her left eye twitching erratically. She looked as if she was about to lose it.

"M-miss Eina, are you alright?" Bell asked with slight apprehension, as if saying the wrong thing would set her off. Eina continued this for a few more moments before she let out a deep sigh and visibly relaxed herself. He thought that the situation had defused, but he then became confused when Sonic flattened his ears and covered them tightly with his hands. One moment later, the reason behind it became painfully clear.

"HOW ON EARTH DID YOU LEVEL UP WITHIN A MONTH AND A HALF?!" Eina practically screamed in disbelief while slamming her hands on the counter. Nearly everyone in the guild jumped in surprise and some of the Demi humans were nursing their ears in pain. The ones that weren't in complete pain had turned to gawk at what happened, both at the extremely incredulous statement and the woman who had screamed it like a banshee.

_Why does she always do this?_, Sonic thought with a sigh. He had survived most of it thanks to his prediction, but he still felt his ears ringing. Eina was a great person and all, but those lungs of hers hurt them more than helped. He just hoped they could finish up their issue before he went deaf.

They had decided to visit her so Bell could ask for her opinion on his Development abilities. They were apparently special skills that adventurers had a chance of getting when they leveled up. How they differ from normal skills is that you could choose which ability you get from a set a three, the options you had were based on what you did while at the previous level. Bell had gotten Abnormal Resistance, which increased his immunity to poison, Hunter which increased the damage done to monsters he had killed before, and the oddball that led to their visit, Luck. While it was mostly due to how none of them had heard it, another part was so Bell could get an unbiased opinion that wasn't Hestia simply saying he had to pick it or himself saying that it would fit his appearance as a rabbit.

In the end however, he did end up picking Luck when Eina told him he should pick what he feels would help him in the future. While he felt it was the right choice, there were some things that made him regret it.

"Ha! I knew you would pick it in the end! You just decided to delay the inevitable by asking Eina for 'help'" Sonic said with a cheeky smirk. They were currently back at the church where Hestia would officially update Bell to level two now that he decided.

"It's not my fault I wanted an actual opinion on what I should pick! You kept saying to pick it just because I look like a rabbit, which I do not look like" Bell argues back while Hestia was working on his back.

"Say what you want, but I could barely tell the difference between you and the Almiraj that Eina showed us, and they are basically rabbits that are monsters"

"Can you two please stop arguing?! I am trying to work here and you two are not making it easy!" Hestia snapped with a glare. The two of them quickly quieted and the only sound they heard were the low chuckles from Caliburn who was spectating the entire thing, "There, you are now a level two. Before you ask, there isn't supposed to be some rush of power. You'll feel the difference when you fight some monsters, but that's really the only difference between a level one and two"

"Seriously, I was hoping it would be way cooler than that"

"Not everything is going to be like your hero stories. Speaking of which, take a look at what else you got!" Hestia said while handing him the status sheet. Bell grabbed it and looked at it while the other two peered over his shoulder in curiosity.

"Argonaut?" Caliburn said with a raised eyebrow.

"Heroic Desire?" Sonic asked with a shit eating grin while glancing to the side. He was split on whether to read more about the skill or look at the boy whose face was turning as red as his eyes.

"Aww, I didn't know you looked up to heroes that much" Hestia said with a teasing smile.

"Don't look at me!" Bell shouted in embarrassment while holding the sheet in front of his face to hide both his face and skill from them. That was the last straw with the rest of them bursting out in laughter.

"Don't worry about it bud, it's not that embarrassing to like heroes. Well, maybe a little" Sonic said while patting him on the back, quietly adding the last part as an afterthought, though he must have still heard him judging by how he groaned in misery.

"Teasing aside, it looks like a pretty useful skill. From what it says, it allows you the chance to turn the tides of a battle with a little extra power. Seems like you can use it to power up a finishing move, or a Heroic Strike if we're sticking to the hero theme" Hestia explained.

"A final attack to win a fight, that would be quite useful for Sir Cranel if he ever fought a large group of monsters or a single powerful opponent like the Minotaur" Caliburn muttered after some contemplation. As it turned out, a level up wasn't the only thing Bell got from that fight. All of them had quickly noticed that Caliburn had stopped referring to him as 'Knave' and instead started addressing him as 'Sir Cranel' instead. When questioned, his response was…

"_He has proven his strength against a powerful opponent and honored the code of chivalry, so I have deemed him worthy of being a knight"_

While Bell was completely elated by that, Sonic was a bit surprised he didn't give him a title as well. While 'Knight of the Wind' suited him perfectly, he didn't think would appreciate being called 'Knight of the Rabbits' or something similar.

"Well, you boys can figure out the rest when you go to the dungeon tomorrow. Make sure you don't do anything reckless while I'm gone" Hestia said while putting on a long coat.

"Hmm, are ya going somewhere?"

"Yeah, Denatus is today. It's basically a meeting the gods have every three months to talk about what's going on and most importantly, to pick aliases for those who leveled. Since Bell literally leveled up yesterday, he's going to be given one"

"I see, titles given to those who have proven their worth like the 'Sword Princess'. I wish I could see how they decided upon an alias and possibly suggest one myself"

"Knowing you, you would just get a word that describes them and put 'knight of the' in front" Sonic poked with a questioning look. Even if it did sound pretty cool, it wasn't that creative. Actually, Caliburn didn't even make his! Percival called him that before their fight and he just named him that.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to be apart of it. Anyway, wish me luck boys" she said with an expression of grim determination. The three of them watched her march up the stairs with the same demeanor of a soldier preparing themselves to enter a battlefield.

"...why did that sound more ominous than it should be?" Bell asked with slight trepidation.

"Well, the gods are pretty eccentric from I have seen. Wouldn't be surprising if some of them want to give names to embarrass adventurers and their god" Sonic muttered, "So, got any plans for today?"

"Not really, probably just walk around the city. My body is still sore so I'm going to take it easy for now. How about you, are you going to head out with me?"

"Nah, I'm taking a well deserved nap, can't really do that when a monster pops in every few seconds. You go on ahead and wake me up when you get back" He said while walking to the hammock he made for a bed. He laid down on it and was asleep within a few seconds.

"Well, there aren't many things a sentient sword can do in the city, so I will follow his words and practice my meditation" Caliburn said with a low sigh.

"You can meditate?"

"What sort of weird question is that, anyone can meditate! Don't discriminate against me just because I am a weapon"

"Okay, okay. Sorry" Bell apologized before turning around and walk out of the church. The streets soon started to get more and more people as he got closer to the main roads of the city. Once he had blended into the crowd, he allowed his mind to wander a bit.

Never would he have believed that he would defeat a minotaur at a level one or become the new Record Holder of the fastest level up in history, beating the previous record of one year with his two and a half months. In fact, everything that had happened from when he got here was unbelievable. He had simply thought that he would simply get strong, save a girl from a monster, and then fall in love with her. Instead, he had gotten much more with his fights with enemies that were much stronger than him, friends that are always there to help him, and even a lofty goal to reach. It was actually quite surprising to say the least, to think he used to be some boy from a small village.

At that thought, his thoughts turned to a question he had been thinking about for sometime. What was Sonic's past like? He never really talked about it and when he was asked, he would usually give somewhat vague details. It didn't seem like he was lying about anything, but more like he was hiding part of the truth. All he knew was that he was from a village that was within a small kingdom called Camelot that was somewhat isolated from everything else. It was a shame since he wouldn't mind meeting some of his people and maybe his old friends. Maybe he would if any came to Orario.

Soon, nearly two hours had passed since he had left to walk around. Most of it was spent looking around at some of the places he had yet to see already. He had even eaten a few potato puffs along the as a snack. Unfortunately, he was starting to get bored by it with practically nothing interesting.

"Well, it was pretty nice the first hour though. Might as well head back home, maybe I can convince Sonic to have another sparring match" Bell mused to himself while turning around to head back. He barely walked a few meters before something flew out from the alley to the side. He froze on the spot and his brain took a bit longer to process that it wasn't something that flew out, but some_one_. There wasn't anything special about them, just a normal looking person who was clutching their stomach in pain.

He had heard two yelps and before he could turn his head, two more people came flying out and crashed into the first guy, one other human and an animal person. They quickly became a tangle of limbs as they tried to get up and run while screaming something about a "crazy red animal". The few people that had witnessed what just happened could only stare in confusion at the three grown men who were running away while crying and screaming like little children.

"That should teach those miscreants a lesson!" A voice said with a satisfied tone from the alley. They all turned and saw that the men's cries about a red animal were true. The short creature was almost entirely red with quills hanging down like dreadlocks and a tail. There was much they could see of what he looked like since armor covered most of his body. A helmet with a visor, gauntlets that extended to his forearms, a breastplate, shin guards, even his shoes were made of metal. The most eye catching feature however were the large pair of axe like blades secured onto his back. While most of them were probably wondering what type of creature he was, Bell instantly noticed how similar he was to Sonic. Was he from Camelot as well? Did he know Sonic from before?

"Gawain! Did you really have to do that? I thought we were trying not to be noticed, not cause a scene in front of everyone" a young voice whined behind him as he walked out as well. He was a young yellow fox with white fur and _two _tails that wasn't armored with only a pair of gloves and shoes.

"I know, but those fools made the mistake of insulting a knight of the Round Table. If anything, I showed them more mercy than they deserved" Gawain said with a small smirk.

"Even so, Tails is correct. We are trying to reach the guild hall as quickly as we can without drawing attention to ourselves. Reacting to petty vagabonds won't help us complete our objective" a third voice said in a near elegant fashion. She was a cat that had varying shades of lavender and purple. Unlike the other two, she actually wore clothing with a dress that had armor pieces covering it. At her side was a thin rapier with a cup hilt.

"See, even Percival agrees with me. Next time, just try knocking them out without them flying onto a busy street"

"Fine, I concede. But don't complain if I decide to hit harder than a simple love tap" Gawain sulked.

"Enough" a fourth voice commanded. This one was more recognizable as he looked almost exactly like Sonic, but colored black and red instead of blue. Other than the usual armor pieces and his weapon, which was a single edged longsword, he had this presence that almost commanded respect. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was the leader of the group, "There is no time for fights or arguments. We must gather info to understand more about our...circumstances. I expect all of you to have more control of yourselves, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" Gawain and Percival shouted with an affirmative nod.

"Still, it's a little too late now" Tails muttered with a sigh. Everyone had seen them and most of them had either walked away or were looking at them with suspicion and even some disgust. It didn't look like they were getting any directions from any of them. All they could do was try to find the guild hall on their own. As he looked around, he noticed that one person that wasn't looking at them with distrust, but with surprise. Maybe he would be nice enough to actually help them? Grasping onto that hope, he cautiously made his way over to him.

"Umm, excuse me? Can you help us out with something?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. What do you you need help with?" the boy who looked like the human version of a rabbit asked.

Tails let out the breath he had been holding in. Finally someone who didn't flat out ignore them or try to scam them by asking for money, "I was wondering if you could tell us how to get to the guild?"

"Sure, I can actually show you guys the way of it's alright"

"You don't have to do that for us, directions alone are fine"

"Don't worry, I'm not really doing anything and you won't get lost on the way there"

With some reluctance, but completely grateful, the group accepted his offer and followed the boy through the streets. While they mostly kept together, the cat and hedgehog distanced themselves slightly to observe the human while the echidna and fox stayed next to him, making some small talk.

"Lancelot, what do you think of him? Even if he is helping us, I find it suspicious that he helped complete strangers when almost everyone hadn't" Percival whispered.

"While I do agree that his kindness seems suspicious, what tips me off even more is the way he reacted to us" Lancelot answered with narrowed eyes. When Percival looked confused, he elaborated more, "Think about it, every person we had run into had looked at us with confused and questioning looks, obviously since they have never seen our species before. But this boy did not look shocked by us. If anything, he looked as if he _recognized _us"

"Recognized?! Do you think he might have something to do with us being sent here?"

"I am not sure, hopefully those two will learn something that will yield answers"

As the two whispered from the back, Tails and Gawain were the middle of a discussion with Bell.

"Seriously?! The gods actually came down from the heavens and are now living among us?!" Tails exclaimed in excitement. Even if he had encountered a few entities that were considered gods, he was still surprised by their existence, especially most of the names he mentioned were from famous mythology stories.

"Yep, though most of them did it for entertainment. Still, they made the familias and granted us the power to drive back the monsters of the dungeon" Bell explained. It felt a little weird explaining this to someone like he was some experienced adventurer when he had only known this for a month and a half.

"Fascinating, so then the members of the familias go into the dungeon to collect these magic stones from the monsters which they then trade for money. Adventuring sounds more like a form of mercenary work more than anything" Gawain muttered with intrigue.

"I guess you can see it that way. So, what brings you guys here to Orario?"

"Oh, umm. The story is a bit too...long and complicated to explain. Let's just say that some interesting circumstances led us here" If somehow being sent to a completely different world without any warning or knowledge of it counted as 'interesting circumstances', then it was too complicated to explain.

"That's fine, you don't have to tell me, I was just curious. Though, I guess you guys come from pretty far away if you don't know much about adventurers"

"Yes actually, we come from a modest kingdom that is far away and quite isolated. Its where us..Mobians can live in harmony with nature. Most of the area simply consists of small villages and settlements, but the castle is the pride and joy of our kingdom" Gawain said, reminiscing about his homeland. Before entering the city, they had decided to use the kingdom of Camelot as a cover story for anyone who asked. It wasn't the most full proof cover, but it was good enough with what they had and it would deflect most people's suspicion.

"A faraway kingdom, Huh. That's a shame, I would've loved to see what Camelot looked like" Bell sighed in disappointment. He was hoping it wasn't too far so he could visit it when he had time. He'll just ask Sonic more about it when he got back.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see how they all froze and gave him looks of disbelief and heavy suspicion. There was no way he could have known about Camelot, especially when they hadn't said it to anyone. That almost confirmed that he had something to do with them ending up here, if not being the very reason why. Gawain had clenched his fists and readied himself to grab the boy and start demanding answers, but Tails quickly sent a panicked look that practically screamed not to do anything reckless. If he was responsible, they had to tread carefully to not provoke him.

"I'm surprised you know about us. No one has really went there, so I thought no one knew about it" Tails said with a strained smile.

"Yeah, but my friend is from there and he told me a little about it. I wished he told me that he was called a mobian, he always gives vague details"

"Wait, really?!" Of all the responses he could have said, they weren't expecting that. While it did somewhat explain how he knew, it brought even more questions. Who was this person, how did they even know about Camelot, how long have they been here? No matter the case, they had to get in contact with them. They might actually know something about what's happening.

"In that case, would you allow us to meet him? I am sure we can trust him more than most of the citizens here" Percival asked, speaking up to him for the first time.

"Sure, I'm sure he wouldn't mind visitors. Though, I hope we don't walk in on him when he's bored" Bell replied with a strained smile. He clearly remembered one time he had to step out for only a few minutes and had come back to Sonic making a tower out of bowls and utensils, to which he then began presenting like it was a masterpiece of art.

Thankfully, the route they had been taking was quite close to the ruins so they hardly had to walk far until they had reached the area.

All around them were the remains of old stone buildings, most of them just being a heap of rubble with only a few retaining some of their previous structure. Soon, they had reached the old church where the familia home was located.

"You live here? Not that there's anything wrong with it, but this wasn't what I was expecting" Tails said, quicky amending his first thought.

"It's alright, this is really all we can afford to stay at for the moment. Once we get more members and earn enough valis, we can move into a better home in the city" Bell explained. Even if that was the case, they made sure that it was suitable to live in. They all had set aside one day for just cleaning and fixing up the church, both the living area and the entrance. While it wasn't perfectly clean, it was good enough that it didn't look like a dump. Walking over to the side, he opened up the door that led to the basement and walked down with the others following him.

"Hey guys, I'm ba—Oh come on! Again?!" Bell shouted in annoyance the moment he peeked his head out of the corner.

"What? I was bored" Sonic responded, acting like he wasn't standing in front of another tower made of kitchen utensils, this one being a bit taller than the last and having some items that they definitely didn't have before.

"Bored my behind, you went out and bought more things just for this one stupid project!" Caliburn retorted with exasperation.

"So? That just means we have more things to use, it's a win-win!"

"Ugh, just put them away before you make a mess. Anyway, we have some guests that want to see you" Bell said with a groan as he held his face in his hand.

"Really? Can't think of anyone that'd come besides the Loki familia and-Sonic!" He pondered before being cut off by a very familiar voice. He instantly recognized who it belonged to, even before the blur of yellow flew into him which only served to confirm it.

"Tails?! What are you doing here bud?!" He asked with both shock and clear happiness evident in his tone as he held the fox boy.

"I should be asking you that! I haven't seen you in a while!" Tails said somehow with even more joy and relief written across his face. Both of them laughed as Sonic gave him a light noogie.

"Sir Sonic?!" Three more voices called from behind Bell. He looked up and recognized the black hedgehog, lavender cat, and red echidna quickly as well.

"Shad-Lancelot? Percival? Gawain? You three as well?" Sonic asked with more confusion, quickly catching his mistake. They may look like his friends, but the armor helped him differentiate between the two.

"What are the Knights of the Round Table doing here?" Caliburn asked as well.

"Wait, Tails? Percival? Round Table?" Of all of them, Bell was the most confused. This had escalated very quickly and too many names that he didn't understand were thrown around everywhere.

"Oh yeah, I never told you about my friends, did I?" Sonic said with a chuckle while scratching the back of his head.

"No, no you didn't" Bell answered with an unamused look. Then again, he probably never expected them to come here, "Fine, I'll go make some tea and you guys can catch up until so finish"

With that, he walked over to the kitchen, muttering something about how annoying Sonic was. The group watched him leave and the moment he was out of sight, they instantly huddled up close.

"So, how did you guys get sent here? Do you remember what happened?" Sonic whispered quietly.

"Unfortunately not, all we remember are us being in the middle of a task when we suddenly blacked out. When we woke up, we were lying down in a forest" Lancelot explained with a sigh.

"Yeah, we barely had time to look around before some weird wolf monsters attacked us. That kinda showed that we were in a different world, especially when we saw a huge tower in the distance" Tails said with a chuckle.

"The monsters are the least of our concerns, they were only weak kobolds. What's important is that you all ended up here as well, most likely the same way Sir Sonic and I were" Caliburn pointed out

"Yeah, though why do you think Joker brought them here as well? I swear, if he said he was just bored, I'm going to fight him"

"From what you told me, the best you could do is just yell at him. Even then, I wouldn't be surprised if he can also shut you up as well"

"Excuse me, but who is this Joker that you speak of?" Percival asked in confusion.

"Oh, him? He claims to be the one responsible for bringing us here. He also said something about being a god or something that has control over different worlds, but he's just a royal pain in the butt" Sonic explained. The only thing he ever saw Joker do was talk to him in his dreams, not really a god like ability. Then again, Bell did say something about a man who looked suspiciously like him give him the glowing marble in his dream.

"Huh?" The four of them eloquently responded. Even Tails, who had seen god like entities like Chaos and Dark Gaia, was confounded by the information.

"Oh yeah, figured it'd take time for you guys to process. Anyway, important things you need to now. Gods live here and gave people blessing to fight monsters. People go into dungeon to kill monsters, collect their cores, and trade it for money at the guild. Any questions about anything?" Sonic asked after his quick rundown.

The four of them were silent for a few seconds trying to process all the information they just got. Finally, one of them had done it quick enough to respond.

"So, what should we do until we get sent back? Is there some goal we're supposed to reach or do we just do whatever until then?" Tails asked.

"It it more the latter option, we don't have a single clue of when he will send us back. For what you all will do until then, just join this familia. There is only Sir Sonic and the boy at the moment, but additional help would bring in valis that this poor familia needs. Besides, it's the only thing someone of your your skill set could do in this city"

"Well, if you put it that way, then-" Gawain started to say before he quieted himself when Bell came back with a tray of teacups, bowls, and a kettle.

"Tea is ready, and I think I made them the correct way" Bell said, emphasizing the last part while glancing at Caliburn with the same discreetness of someone who is wearing a sign saying that they are annoyed at you, which is to say none at all.

"I shall believe it when I see it" Caliburn huffed in indignation. Sonic rolled his eyes as each of them took a cup or bowl and took a few sips.

"Thank you for the hospitality, the tea tastes marvelous" Percival politely complimented with a smile.

"It's alright, you guys are friends with Sonic so you are friends of mine" Bell replied with a smile of his own, "So, what do you all plan to do. Are you just going to explore the city for a few days and then head back?"

"Actually, we were talking about it...and we decided that we we're going to stay here for a while. We can join your familia in the meantime, at least until we head back" Tails said while glancing to the knights. Even though they didn't say anything, they had implicitly agreed to it if their nods meant yes.

"Really?! You'll join us?!"

"This is the best option for us. Other familias may discriminate us based on our race, despite our abilities. Affiliating here will allow us to remain with Sir Sonic, so it is obvious why we would" Lancelot explained, almost in disbelief that he had to ask.

"Sorry, our goddess had a hard time recruiting members before us, so I had to make sure. Anyway, welcome to the Hestia Familia, we really appreciate doing this"

"It is fine. So, where is the goddess?" Percival asked.

"She had to go to this meeting with the gods. She said she should be back by tonight, so you guys should be able to get a falna today"

"I guess we have time until then, we should introduce ourselves" Tails suggested before turning towards Bell, "Hi, my name is Miles Prower, but everyone just calls me Tails"

"You may call me Sir Gawain of the Round Table!"

"I am Sir Percival, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance"

"Sir Lancelot"

"It's nice to meet you all, you can call me Bell Cranel"

"Okay then, Sir Cranel. What shall we do until the goddess returns?" Bell chuckled as he tried thinking. He was surprisingly not as shocked as he should be at the formal title. The 'knights' and Caliburn both seemed to have similar mindsets on how they should act, formal with an air of dignity around them. Though, even the sword was starting to lose his edge from the constant informal attitude of Sonic.

"Hey, how about we spar until then? I hadn't had a good challenge until the Sword Princess trained with us, and we need to make sure your skills aren't rusty" Sonic suggested.

"Some practice? Okay, the only ones who can put a decent fight are Percival and Gawain. I have been waiting for another chance to duel with you" Lancelot said with a challenging smirk as he stood up. Sonic stood up with an equally wide smirk and the two of them quickly went outside with the other tailing them.

By the time the rest of them got outside, the two were already in their stances facing each other. Sonic was holding Caliburn in front of him with both hands while Lancelot held his to the side in a reverse grip.

"Are you ready, Knave the Hedgehog?" Lancelot asked with a mocking tone.

"Hah! I'll show you whose the Knave here!" Sonic retorted. The two crouched slightly and suddenly, they were everywhere. The only thing Bell could make out were the constant sound of metal clashing against each other and blurs of black and blue bouncing around. While he was hardly able to follow them, the other three seemed to have no trouble as they effortlessly glanced at wherever the two would end up and actually did some commentary.

"Impressive dodge under his blade and shooting out his legs to strike the back. Obviously, he uses the momentum to spin around and block. And now they are over there" Percival commented with the mixture of someone commentating a sports event and someone telling the weather.

"And a witty joke will be made in 3..2..1" Tails droned before pointing to a spot where the two clashed a moment later and stayed in a struggling stalemate.

"At this rate, I should be calling you the Knave. You are just as strong as you were last time" Sonic said with a raised eyebrow.

"In terms of physical strength, you are correct. But I have been training much more than just my strength" Lancelot replied with a smile. Suddenly, he disappeared in a flash of blue and reappeared right behind Sonic, who was stumbling forward with the lack of anything pushing against him, so quickly that he had practically teleported their. Lancelot quickly spun around on his heel while jumping and kicked Sonic in the back of the head. Sonic pitched forward and he smacked the ground hard, but he was able to transition into a roll and jump back to his feet.

"Cheap shot"

"Sonic, you're just embarrassed that you got kicked in the back of the head like Silver" Tails pointed out with a very amused grin.

"Put a sock in it" Sonic grumbled, especially since Caliburn wasn't being discreet with his laughter. He ignored the two and returned his focus back to his opponent, "Fine, if its an ability fight you want, then it's an ability fight you'll get"

A subtle glow was the only warning Lancelot got before Sonic appeared in front of him, a sword crackling with lightning raised high up. His eyes widened and he barely was able to leap back quick enough to avoid the swing. When he landed, he only saw something bright approaching before his body began to seize up with all the electricity running through him. It took all of his focus not to allow him to body to collapse from the convulsions. Once he regained control of himself, he saw Sonic still standing where he was with a cocky and smug smirk.

"Quite _shocking_, wasn't it?" He asked, ignoring the exaggerated groan coming from the side.

"Hmm, it did catch me off guard, but not anymore" Lancelot said before lunging forward. Sonic grinned and leaped forward to continue their little duel.

Off to the side, the four spectators were know wearing surprised expressions by all that had happened just then.

"How is he able to keep up with him? Lancelot doesn't have a falna like Sonic does" Bell said with evident shock.

"Sir Sonic has always been that strong, I guess our species can grow stronger than other naturally. What I am more curious about is how Sir Sonic can use magic. He never showed any sign of being able to casually use it like he did here. Is this the power of the falna?" Percival asked. The only other people she knew besides herself capable of performing magic were Sir Lancelot and Merlina.

"Yeah, anyone with falna has a chance of receiving acquired magic. Both of us have magic actually, though we both got them through less than normal ways"

"Sonic getting magic? Let me guess, the first thing he did was run off into the dungeon to test it out" Tails guessed.

"Uhh, not really. He waited until the next day to do so" Bell said with a nervous chuckle. He may have been wrong about Sonic, but he was spot on with him. He just hoped they don't find out about what happened down there, especially the mind down and the lap pillow. Noticing that Tails and Percival was starting to look at him suspiciously, he quickly tried changing the subject, "Uh, Lancelot seems to be quite skilled. Maybe I could fight him in a friendly spar as well?"

The three of them turned back to the fight only to see Lancelot strike Sonic in the face with a devastating haymaker, sending him flying back. The moment he landed on his back, he instantly rolled backwards to avoid the axe kick the struck the spot he was just at. While he rolled, he managed to drive Caliburn into the ground and push himself into the air. Just like he did with Aiz, his foot pistoned out and struck Lancelot in the head. He was sent flying back as well, but he recovered just as quickly and charged back into the fight.

"...On second thought, I think I want to keep my face intact"

"Smart choice"

…

"Ugh, I'm so glad it's over!" Hestia groaned as tiredly walked back to the church. Denatus was so boring for the first half, it just droning on and on about what was happening in the city and how they were going to fix the problems in the most boring way possible. Had it not been for Hephaestus, she would have fallen asleep multiple times throughout the entire thing. And then came the part of picking aliases.

There's a huge misconception about the aliases that most of Orario wasn't aware of. Most adventurers think that the gods think of cool names for them and as such, they display it like a badge of honor for everyone to see. However, they couldn't be any farther from the truth. The true purpose of the naming ceremony isn't just to reward mortals, but to also embarrass the gods of their familias. The gods were cruel and merciless creatures as they think of aliases that make a patron god die a little on the inside everytime they hear it, especially when it was there child flaunting it. The only gods completely safe from this were Loki and Freya, mostly because they fear the wrath either would bring. Everyone else? Well, let's just say you better pray that you don't have enemies.

With her, she was extremely lucky to get a normal one for Bell. It wasn't due to her skill and unwavering will not to back down however, it was only thanks to Freya stepping in that she managed to convince the rest of them. While extremely suspicious, she wasn't going to argue with it. All that mattered was that he got a name that didn't make her want to crawl in a hole and hide there forever.

She soon had entered the church and was now walking down the stairs. She couldn't wait to see Bell's reaction, he is going to be so shocked!

"Guys! I'm ba-"She began to say before she stopped as she got a good look at the room. Sonic was testing in his hammock in the corner with Caliburn leaning on the wall below it while Bell was examining the minotaur horn he got. The three of them were doing nothing out of the ordinary as far as she was concerned.

What was wrong was that there were _four_ more people there with them, all of them being animal people like Sonic. A yellow fox with two tails was on the table reading one of her books, a purple cat was practicing fencing techniques, a black hedgehog had just walked out of the kitchen holding a few plates of freshly cooked food, and a red echidna was bench pressing the table with the fox on it with ease.

"Oh, Hestia's back" Sonic said, being the first to notice her. The rest of them stopped what they were doing and turned to the doorway.

"Huh? Oh, welcome home Goddess! How was the meeting?" Bell asked with a smile, like there was nothing wrong with complete strangers in their home.

"It...was good. So…mind explaining who these people are?"

"Ah, forgive us for our rudeness, Goddess Hestia. I am Sir Percival and we are the Knights of the Round Table. We ask you to allow us to join your familia" Percival said while kneeling to her. The other two quickly stopped what they were doing and knelt beside her. Tails didn't kneel with them, but he did lower himself into a bow.

Hestia was at a loss of words at what she was seeing. Four strangers who were in her home were now kneeling/bowing in front of her while asking to join her familia. She would have liked to say that she responded in a respectful way that befitted her title as a goddess.

"Huh?" But reality was often much different than our imaginations.

"Don't worry Hestia, these are just some old friends from where I come from. They came here to Orario, we ran into them, and they want to join while they are here" Sonic explained, only allowing a smirk to show that he found her reaction funny, unlike Caliburn who was shamelessly laughing at her.

"Seriously?! They want to join us?!" She asked to clarify.

"Yeah, makes sense since I'm the only one they know here in the city"

"...Bell leveled up in record time...I got him a decent alias..._and_ four people want to join?" She mumbled, as if not believing what she was even saying. A huge grin started to grow on her face before she suddenly yelled, "FINALLY THINGS ARE GOING MY WAY!"

She immediately froze the moment the words left her mouth. Her eyes slowly moved to see how they all reacted. The Knights and Tails were obviously caught completely off guard and were now looking at her with concern. Bell was shocked as well, but he had a look of pity as he understood what she meant. Sonic and Caliburn? Well, they were focused less on her and more on trying not to burst out in laughter.

"Umm...I mean, it would be a pleasure to have you" Hestia said with her best impression of a regal tone, trying to recover her reputation.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Unfortunately, that failed as the hedgehog and sword chose that moment to laugh. It was hard for people to take you seriously when someone affiliated with you is currently on the floor wheezing for a breath after laughing so much. Even Bell was chuckling a little! They were supposed to laugh with her, not at her!

As those four were in the middle of what they were doing, the four guests were just staring at the scene in confusion and some concern.

"_This_ is the goddess Sir Sonic pledged himself to?!" Gawain asked with palpable shock in his tone.

"Hmm, quite the 'best option', isn't it?" Percival noted with amusement while not so subtly glancing at the hedgehog.

"I...may have miscalculated" Lancelot grumbled.

"Yeah, you might have" Taild said with a small chuckle.

**Sorry for the late update again, writers block really hit me hard. I'll try to update it quickly, but there's a chance I might put this on pause for another possible story**


End file.
